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# literal

«literal» in Mova's school dictionary: **Taking words in their most basic, exact meaning, not as a…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (literal)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Taking words in their most basic, exact meaning, not as a joke or figure of speech. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/literal/#m1)

2) Translated word for word. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/literal/#m2)

3) (informal) Used for real, not exaggerated. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/literal/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In English lessons: the literal meaning of "it's raining cats and dogs" would be animals falling from the sky; its real (figurative) meaning is heavy rain. In maths, read problems literally and exactly. Phrases: literal meaning, take something literally, literal translation.

### examples

- The literal meaning of "break a leg" is to snap your leg, but it means good luck. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/literal/#x1)
- Don't be so literal — it was a joke! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/literal/#x2)
- A literal translation can sound strange in English. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/literal/#x3)
- She took my words literally and really jumped in the lake. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/literal/#x4)
- In a literal sense, "breakfast" means breaking a fast. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/literal/#x5)
- The literal truth is that we lost five to nil. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/literal/#x6)
- The stories are not literal, or word by word translations, but have been altered in many ways to make them suitable for children. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/literal/#x7)

### note

Adjective; adverb: literally. Opposite: figurative (idioms, metaphors). Trap: people often say "literally" for emphasis when it is not literal ("I literally died laughing") — this is informal. Do not confuse with "literary" (to do with books and literature) or "littoral" (by the shore).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «literal» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/literal/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.