Figurative language is the one that uses figures of speech to express ideas, <u>but not literally</u>. For example, the boy is ready to go out and his mother says: "you better take an umbrella; it's raining cats and dogs out there". She is not meaning animals falling from the sky.
In this case, the speaker resorts to a SIMILE, which is an implicit comparison between two different things, actions, or feelings by using AS or LIKE (e.g. my mind is like an open window).
