The Overstatement reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Overstatement

An overstatement is an exaggeration of something, often for the purpose of giving it greater emphasis. It is often used in poetry and is a literary device.

For example, “continued on for years” could be an overstatement (and exaggeration) of “continued on for a long time”.

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