| Metonymy is widely applied in English news publications for its role of being a cognitive tool and a communicative strategy and aims at attracting the readers' attention as well as arousing their interests. This thesis describes metonymy in English news at the lexical level, grammatical level and textual level. Jef Verschueren's Adaptation Theory brings a new perspective to language production and interpretation and sheds light on the dynamic process of language use. With the Adaptation Theory as a theoretical framework, this thesis makes a comprehensive analysis and explanation for the metonymic phenomena in English news. It identifies that the utilization of metonymy is not arbitrary, but embodies the adaptation of language. Metonymy in English news adapts to the readers' understanding process and their desires for acquiring information in a short time. The journalists employ the metonymic expressions to adapt to their expectations for adequate information conveyance. Meanwhile, metonymy in English news adapts to the social world. The salience of metonymy adapts to the perception and representation of news language. The pragmatic functions of metonymy in English news are fully displayed in the process of adaptation.
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