adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a literal translation (= one in which each word is translated exactly )
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First make a literal translation and then try and put it into idiomatic English.
accurate/literal etc rendering of sth
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a faithful rendering of historical events
in a literal sense (= according to the actual or physical meaning of words )
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I wasn't suggesting that in a literal sense.
the literal meaning
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The literal meaning of ‘telephone’ is ‘far-away sound’.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
most
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Having said that, scientists are currently working on an atomic toolkit in the most literal sense.
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She felt as though she were sinking into its blue fabric in the most literal way.
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It's twist-and-go in its most literal sense.
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No. 1 with a bullet, in the most literal sense.
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It was also expressing, on the most literal level, my determination to survive.
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It seems that Freemantle was uneasy about poems which even in the most literal sense made the poet look bad.
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Backstage there exists a very Boys R Us attitude: espritdecorps in its most literal sense.
■ NOUN
interpretation
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But the Ahlbergs have no time for literal interpretations of their work.
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He tended toward literal interpretations and preferred unambiguous answers.
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These are collocational ties which in many cases defy literal interpretation , and have to be understood metaphorically.
meaning
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As Leon Brittan has pointed out, the phrase doesn't even carry the same literal meaning in every language.
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As I read, it seems to me that this is not his literal meaning .
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A text would entail its interpretation only if meaning was exhausted by sense, the coded or literal meanings studied by semantics.
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Therefore, on the literal meaning of the words used, the applicants must fail.
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Within the family it is usually the words and their literal meaning which take primary importance.
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The literal meaning is not conclusive: the ordinary reader knows all about irony.
sense
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In a literal sense , the management of the school has depended on him or her.
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Ray S., who came to see me, was not a carpenter in the literal sense but a millwright.
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Having said that, scientists are currently working on an atomic toolkit in the most literal sense .
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No. 1 with a bullet, in the most literal sense .
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It's twist-and-go in its most literal sense .
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Mr Gow made it clear that he was not referring to small men in any literal sense .
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It seems that Freemantle was uneasy about poems which even in the most literal sense made the poet look bad.
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Backstage there exists a very Boys R Us attitude: espritdecorps in its most literal sense .
translation
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A literal translation is given of the Arabic themes to highlight the partial loss of orientation through discontinuity of theme.
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For example, a literal translation by some one not familiar with its deeper cultural meaning may result in serious mistakes.
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A literal translation would be estrangement.
truth
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It is a fundamentalist statement of belief in the literal truth of the bible.
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But if the news item in the Inquirer was the literal truth , Daine was dead.
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For Kane a poetic metaphor became a literal truth .
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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A trade war is not a war in the literal sense.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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But railways have also had a powerful literal effect upon religious movements around the world.
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But there we go, getting too literal again.
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Cornerville man describes the gang member and his relationships in a very literal sense.
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It's all painfully literal , and rather old-fashioned.
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She felt as though she were sinking into its blue fabric in the most literal way.
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The joining of forces of the young and old represents a literal means of reconnecting tenses.
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The resulting deep distrust provoked by social surfaces leaves Chandler unimpressed by anything as literal as an economic recovery.