literallyin a sentencegrouped by contextual meaning
literally as in: literally--not figuratively
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She wasn't literally advocating physical violence.
literally = using the most basic meaning of the words
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It's dirty money--literally and figuratively.
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Bird nest soup is literally made from a bird's nest.literally = actually (using the basic meaning of the words--not treating them as a figure of speech)
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The computer has no common sense. It will interpret everything you tell it literally.literally = in manner that uses the basic meaning of words (without understanding metaphors, exaggerations, idioms, etc.)
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She thinks the creation story in the Bible is a literal description; while he thinks it is poetic.literal = uses the basic meanings of words (not metaphors, allegories, symbolic use of language, etc.)
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It was so dark now we literally couldn't see ten steps ahead of us as we walked toward the woods. (source)literally = actually (not an exaggeration)
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The Savage obeyed with a disconcerting literalness. (source)literalness = a quality of being actual--not figurativestandard suffix: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.
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TOO WEAK TO WALK OUT, HAVE LITERALLY BECOME TRAPPED IN THE WILD. (source)LITERALLY = actually (not an exaggeration)
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Some things happen in a literal way, Lily. (source)literal = actual (not figurative)
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Already the Bishop had observed in Indian life a strange literalness, often shocking and disconcerting.† (source)literalness = the quality of being actual--not figurative
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Thousands of people—literally thousands—had left condolence messages for her. (source)literally = actually (not an exaggeration)
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It was she who introduced her to the library in the first place and gave her the initial, even literal, window of opportunity. (source)literal = actual (not figurative)
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Of course, Dick was very literal-minded, very— he had no understanding of music, poetry-and yet when you got right down toot, Dick's literalness, his pragmatic approach to every subject, was the primary reason Perry had been attracted to him, for it made Dick seem, compared to himself, so authentically tough, invulnerable, "totally masculine.† (source)literalness = the quality of being actual--not figurative
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We have literally dozens of species on the island. (source)literally = actually (not an exaggeration)
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literally as in: literally at death's door
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I literally feel like a prisoner in my own home.
literally = an intensifier (to intensify what is said)
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I literally laughed my head off.
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She was literally at death's door.
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Literally everyone was there.
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If something didn't move, they literally didn't see it. (source)literally = an intensifier (to intensify what is said)
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He imagined the girl reading in the shelter. He must have watched her literally handing out the words. (source)literally = an intensifier (to intensify what follows)
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The longer the interview goes on, the more my fury seems to rise to the surface, until I'm literally spitting out answers at him. (source)literally = an intensifier (to intensify what is said)
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Anyway, about five minutes after I got there, Henry and Savanna were standing next to me, literally hovering over me. (source)literally = so much it was like
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Our caste was just three away from the bottom. We were artists. And artists and classical musicians were only three steps up from dirt. Literally. (source)Literally = an intensifier (to intensify what was just said)
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Many scholars claim that the early Church literally stole Jesus from His original followers, hijacking His human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their own power. (source)literally = an intensifier (to intensify what is said)
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This time, Colton literally skipped all the way to the CT scan lab. (source)
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It looked, literally, like the scene of a shotgun homicide. (source)
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Normal people, when they were looking at the faces, used a part of their brain called the fusiform gyrus, which is an incredibly sophisticated piece of brain software that allows us to distinguish among the literally thousands of faces that we know. (source)
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Ms. Queen Marie Antionette Lincoln literally filled a room when she entered it. (source)
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literal as in: a literal translation
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When translating English to another language, if you translate an expression like "What's up?" literally, it will completely confuse people learning the language.
literally = word for word
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That app did a literal translation, so idioms like "drop by" didn't make any sense when translated.
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The Great Wall (literally translated from Chinese as the "long wall") is indeed long.
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The literal translation of the French vin aigre is "sour wine".
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But you just use him to learn the literal meaning of the words; don't follow his explanations and interpretation. (source)literal = word for word
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Sang Real literally meant Royal Blood. (source)literally = in a manner that is word for word
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The literal translation of lokhay warkawal is "giving of a pot." ... Lokhay means not only providing care and shelter, it means an unbreakable commitment to defend that wounded man to the death. (source)literal = word for word
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That place was Boca Raton, which, translated from the Spanish, means literally "Mouth of the Rat?" (source)
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Cesar blew the air hard out of his mouth and said, "Gallo, caballo y mujer, por la raza has de escoger." "That better mean 'I promise to be respectful to women,' " she stated. "Absolutely," he said, though the literal translation had something to do with comparing a woman to a horse and a rooster. (source)
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The Sherpa term for prayer flag is lung ta, which translates literally as "wind horse", (source)
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Thus a literal translation of the name of this beautiful sheet of water, used by the tribe that dwelt on its banks, would be "The Tail of the Lake." (source)
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As any Aramaic scholar will tell you, the word companion, in those days, literally meant spouse. (source)literally = in a manner that is word for word
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Holy Grail is the literal meaning of Sangreal. (source)literal = word for word
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The root of your name, Sophie, is literally a 'word of wisdom.' (source)literally = in a manner that is word for word
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rare meaning
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"Well," I said, nodding vaguely toward the steps that led us out of the Literal Heart of Jesus. (source)Literal = actual (not figurative)
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The cast had rotated a bit down there in the Literal Heart of Jesus. (source)
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Do you suppose you could find your way to the Literal Heart of Jesus around eight P.M.? (source)
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"Don't swear in the Literal Heart of Jesus," Gus said. (source)Literal = actual (not figurative)
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I'd almost made it all the way to the elevator when I saw his mom standing in a corner of the Literal Heart. (source)
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When we first got there, I sat in the back of the visitation room, a little room of exposed stone walls off to the side of the sanctuary in the Literal Heart of Jesus church. (source)
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