\Cat`a*chre"sis\, n. [L. fr. Gr. ? misuse, fr. ? to misuse; kata` against + ? to use.] (Rhet.) A figure by which one word is wrongly put for another, or by which a word is wrested from its true signification; as, ``To take arms against a sea of troubles''. --Shak. ``Her voice was but the shadow of a sound.'' --Young.