Metaphor signals
Metaphor use can be signaled by metaphor markers such as like, as, as if, so-called etc.
More general signals of indirectness such as sort of or kind of were not included.
Examples:
For many years Thompson lived in New York in his apartment at the Chelsea Hotel. From there, like a buzzard in its eyrie, he would make forays round the US and abroad (A1H-fragment05)*
Poplar leaves have an elegant outline resembling that of an arab minaret. (AMM-fragment01)
Signals
* fragment specification from the BNC Baby