- "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" (Act 1, Scene 1): This line uses the adjectives "fair" and "foul" to refer to the moral qualities of the characters and the events in the play.
- "The Thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me / In borrowed robes?" (Act 1, Scene 3): This line uses the phrase "borrowed robes" to refer to the title of Thane of Cawdor, which Macbeth has just been given by the witches.
- "What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes" (Act 2, Scene 2): This line uses the word "hands" to refer to the person who is responsible for Macbeth's guilt, which is actually his own conscience.
- "By the pricking of my thumbs, / Something wicked this way comes" (Act 4, Scene 1): This line uses the phrase "the pricking of my thumbs" to refer to the supernatural sense that the witches have.
- "And all our yesterdays have lighted fools / The way to dusty death" (Act 5, Scene 5): This line uses the phrase "all our yesterdays" to refer to the past, and the phrase "dusty death" to refer to death itself.