Nikki said she didn't get it, and Angela had to explain the figurative meaning.

To shed light on something is a phrase with both literal and figurative meanings.

Often the plural declension is used to give a figurative meaning.

By analogy, the term has taken the figurative meaning of "conduct very mixed".

The literal sense (no. 116) pertains to the meaning of the words themselves, including any figurative meanings.

The story has a figurative meaning, not just a literal one.

A second sense in English has a more figurative meaning - inspiration for a fight.

This phrase had the figurative meaning of knowing that one knows, as the modern English word "conscious" does.

This is what is called a figurative meaning: it's a figure of speech.

It seems that every new word I learn has a figurative meaning which is often quite different from the literal meaning.