All 9 Uses

literally
in
Lone Survivor
(Edited)

He was first up, literally dragging me away.
Chpt 1. *

literally = actually (not figuratively; not an exaggeration)
Its flash and sound is obvious from literally miles away.
Chpt 2.
Suddenly there was a loud shout, and someone literally kicked open the side door.
Chpt 4.
Within literally hours, we began our first mission.
Chpt 6.
But I could see the spotter now, the guy who was literally tracking me down, not trying to shoot me; he didn't even carry a rifle.
Chpt 9.
Dimly I recall that first character was still yelling his head off, literally screaming at me.
Chpt 9.
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.
Chpt 9. *

literal = word for word
He literally dragged me into a standing position, and then… He was running and trying to make me keep up with him, and he kept shouting, signaling, again and again: Taliban!
Chpt 11.

literally = actually (not figuratively; not an exaggeration)
He literally dragged me into a standing position and then pulled me down the trail leading to the lower reaches of the village.
Chpt 11.

Definitions:

(1) (literally as in: literally--not figuratively)
actually true using the basic meaning of the words (not an exaggeration, metaphor, or other type of figurative speech)
(2) (literally as in: literally at death's door)
an intensifier (to intensify what is said -- especially a metaphor)

Since literally can mean actually true, but can also be used to intensify a metaphor, the reader has to use context to know what the word means.

For example, if you read "She stabbed him in the back," you would probably assume she betrayed him. But if you read it in a murder mystery where the victim was stabbed, you might assume you were being told that she actually stabbed him.

Because confusion can arise from this kind of usage, many authorities discourage using literally to intensify a metaphor--especially in formal usage.
(3) (literal as in: a literal translation)
word for word
(4) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
Less common and more specific meanings of literal include:
- an earlier or original meaning of a word -- as in "In Japanese the literal meaning of ronin was a 'samurai without a master,' but it is now used to describe a student who did not pass the entrance exam and is without a school."
- lacking imagination -- as in "She has a literal mind."
- a fixed or hard-coded value in a computer program -- as in "Find every instance of the literal in the source code."
- related to letters -- as in "In algebra we use literal notation as when 'x' represents a value."