Read the following poem and attempt the question :

Harlem

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore -
And then run?
Does is stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over -
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does is explode?

The word 'like' in the third sentence denotes which figure of speech?

simile

The correct answer is Option (4) - simile

The word 'like' in the third sentence denotes: simile

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things using the words "like" or "as." In this case, the comparison of a deferred dream to "rotten meat" using "like" is an example of a simile.