Do metaphors make abstract concepts more concrete?

A common assumption in the literature is that metaphors make abstract concepts more concrete. This paper empirically tests this assumption in a large corpus of (metaphorical) domain constructions published between 2000-2019 in American English (N = 72,703). Results demonstrate that metaphorical domain constructions are indeed more concrete than non-metaphorical domain constructions. Furthermore, for metaphorical (but not for non-metaphorical) domain constructions, concreteness was unrelated to conventionality. Metaphorical (vs. non-metaphorical) domain constructions were also more concrete for humanities, social-science and general topics, but not for science topics. Finally, metaphorical domain constructions from the source domains of LANDSCAPE, BUILDING, NATURAL PHENOMENON and GAME were more concrete than those from other domains. By contrast, metaphorical domain constructions from the domains of ECONOMY, and LIVING BEING were less concrete than those from other domains. Metaphorical domain constructions from the domains of WAR, MACHINE, and TRAVEL did not differ in concreteness from those from other domains. Implications for metaphor theory are discussed.