Metonymy is applying the name of an object to another object that is in some way connected with the first.
For example: The gallery applauded. - We imply the people in the gallery, NOT the building of it. (Yu. M. Skrebnev)
Metonymy has some subtypes of it. We learned about synecdoche and antonomasia.
Synecdoche is the use name of a part to denote the whole or vice versa.
Antonomasia is a substitution of any epithet or phrase for a proper name.(http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/373130)
