People will often use the word "literally" after they use an idiom, if they want to point out that part of the idiom is actually true. For instance: "She wouldn't hurt a fly." This means that someone is very gentle. "She wouldn't hurt a fly - literally." This means that someone is the type of person who is so gentle, she actually goes to the trouble of catching insects in the house and putting them outside, rather than killing them. Particularly in America, people overuse the word "literally" -- and they use it inappropriately. When someone says to me, "I literally jumped out of my skin," I ALWAYS remind them that they did not do any such thing! I will say, "Wow, you look great for having had such radical surgery afterward," or something like this. It is LITERALLY a pet peeve of mine.

Hello MG Li, It could also mean : 'really' "The best meal I've ever had, literally" The person confirms the statement and emphasizes on its actuality.

Eicee is right about that meaning you might like to think of it as 'excatly what it says or word for word..... however in this sentances litterally is used another way... I literally jumped out of my skin....Literally is being ued for empthasis... someone cant really jump out of thier skin, its a bit like, she was so angry, she litterally screamed the house down!

literally means the dictionary meaning of the word...its like when you want to know the meaning of the word the dictionary gives the literal or exact meaning of the word...yes its the exact meaning of the word.......if you are not satisfied with my answer...tell me