'Israel's watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge. They are all like mute dogs, they cannot bark.' (Isaiah 56: 10)
'Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.' (Philippians 3: 2)
'Go tell that fox, I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.' (Luke 13: 32)
'I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.' (Acts 20: 29)

In the examples given above, people were being talked about. However, they were described as dogs, a fox and wolves. Because the terms used are out of character with the literal description of people we can say that the language used is therefore figurative.

The easiest way to determine whether something is literal or figurative is by the context. In the above, it is quite clear that people are the literal objects, therefore the descriptions are figurative.

We must always interpret words used figuratively in the context of individual uses. You can't build a doctrine on an individual word used in a figurative way. For example the word lion is used to describe both Jesus and Satan!

'Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.' (1 Peter 5: 8)
'Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.' (Revelation 5: 5)

Very often in the Bible, figurative language is used to describe God.
'The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth.' (2 Chronicles 16: 9)
'God said to his servant Moses, Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen.' (Exodus 33: 23)

The words eyes, hand, back and face are all figurative - because 'God is spirit' (John 4: 24).

The use of such words in a figurative context enables us to understand the truths that God wants to communicate about himself. For example, the Bible talks about 'God's right hand' (Psalm 138: 7) which helps us to see his omnipotence. It is not literal because God does not have hands.