Maybe your right

Adaptation gives rise to intelligence (in humans)
Intelligence (in humans) gives rise to communication
Communication is dependent upon meaning

It's a phenomenon.

Yeah, pot isn't legal in NM yet. Well, 'cept for medicinal purposes.

Meaning is the attributed definition and attached value which a person gives to an object or event. It does not exist independent of the human mind.

I think I know what you mean.

Consensus and or facts determine meanings.

I don't think the problem is the concept of "meaning". Meaning is just useful information that can be reasonably inferred from other indicators. If there are fresh bear prints around your campsite in the morning, it most likely "means" there are bears in the area, and that information could be useful. The problem comes when when people imagine meaning that doesn't happen to be true. That said, meaning doesn't always have to be purely rational. It can legitimately be non-rational; that is to say, emotional or below conscious awareness. A sunset can be meaningful aesthetically without having to dissect it rationally. This non-rational component of meaningfulness comes with a certain risk because it can obviously be used to justify all kinds of insanity, but the fact that life itself cannot be entirely separated from risk is pretty undeniable. That fact is meaningful to me because it helps me orient myself to reality rather than to a comfortable fantasy. Meaning can be useful as well as enriching. No need to deny ourselves the benefits just because there can also be risks.

Ok, let's give this a shot.

"Meaning" is a word we use to define things. asking for meaning, is the same as asking for a definition. when you want to know why something occurred or is happening, you are looking for more details and clues, but this would be too complicated to keep saying in any normal situation.

what you're really asking is "why do we have words which seemingly have the same set of uses." it seems.

the answer is simple. not every use makes sense. there are synonyms which can help put across an emotion while still containing the same intention, while other words seem less emotive or expressive, and as a result are often labelled "bland" or "sterile" words.

if I said I stubbed my toe on a table, bare footed, and uttered "that hurt." would you really know how much it hurt? if instead I was to say "fucking ouch." you'd probably already know it hurt more and as a result understand why I said it.

without "meaning" there would be no use for language. there would be no real use for symbols or indications. when you're driving and the car infront has an orangey / yellow light on the right side of the vehicle blinking away on it's own, would you just think it's a feature and a pretty light?

"meaning" isn't a figure of speech. it's a word we use to put very simply, the intent of an action or the intent of shared information. if someone says something which seems unintelligible, you don't ask them to think of a different way to say it because you just can't seem to understand what it is they're saying, that's too much hassle, just ask "what did you mean?"

I do think, this question of yours may have a deeper reason and I've missed it completely, but from how you've written it, and how it's put across, I think I've answered it for you. I hope. I also refrained from using the word "meaning" in my answer to sort of make clear that "meaning" is a lot faster and can replace a lot of what I've written. a figure of speech is something which would fall under the category of "not related but can be attributed to" collections of words. such as "more or less" or "like a bird" these things are a figure of speech, they embody a certain descriptive narrative which if used properly can make something new, really easy to grasp or understand.

on here, I am often "preaching to the choir". that is a turn of phrase. the chances of a choir being here or a preacher being here, is not likely. but we know what is meant by it. a figure of speech has meaning, yet "meaning" isn't a figure of speech.

gee I really do yap on. I just start typing and kinda don't stop. I'll stop now before I get carried away.

oh there's another figure of speech which has meaning... "carried away". ok, I'm stopping.