Definitions for: Figure


[n] a predetermined set of movements in dancing or skating; "she made the best score on compulsory figures"
[n] a decorative or artistic work; "the coach had a design on the doors"
[n] a model of a bodily form (especially of a person); "he made a figure of Santa Claus"
[n] the impression produced by a person; "he cut a fine figure"; "a heroic figure"
[n] the property possessed by a sum or total or indefinite quantity of units or individuals; "he had a number of chores to do"; "the number of parameters is small"; "the figure was about a thousand"
[n] alternative names for the body of a human being; "Leonardo studied the human body"; "he has a strong physique"; "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak"
[n] a unitary percept having structure and coherence that is the object of attention and that stands out against a ground
[n] a diagram or picture illustrating textual material; "the area covered can be seen from Figure 2"
[n] language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense
[n] a well-known or notable person; "they studied all the great names in the history of France"; "she is an important figure in modern music"
[n] an amount of money expressed numerically; "a figure of $17 was suggested"
[n] one of the elements that collectively form a system of numbers; "0 and 1 are digits"
[n] a combination of points and lines and planes that form a visible palpable shape
[v] understand (informal); "He didn't figure her"
[v] make a mathematical calculation or computation
[v] judge to be probable
[v] imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind; "I can't see him on horseback!"; "I can see what will happen"; "I can see a risk in this strategy"
[v] be or play a part of or in; "Elections figure prominently in every government program"; "How do the elections figure in the current pattern of internal politics?"



Webster (1913) Definition: Fig"ure (?; 135), n. [F., figure, L. figura; akin to
fingere to form, shape, feign. See Feign.]
1. The form of anything; shape; outline; appearance.

Flowers have all exquisite figures. --Bacon.

2. The representation of any form, as by drawing, painting,
modeling, carving, embroidering, etc.; especially, a
representation of the human body; as, a figure in bronze;
a figure cut in marble.

A coin that bears the figure of an angel. --Shak.

3. A pattern in cloth, paper, or other manufactured article;
a design wrought out in a fabric; as, the muslin was of a
pretty figure.

4. (Geom.) A diagram or drawing; made to represent a
magnitude or the relation of two or more magnitudes; a
surface or space inclosed on all sides; -- called
superficial when inclosed by lines, and solid when
inclosed by surface; any arrangement made up of points,
lines, angles, surfaces, etc.

5. The appearance or impression made by the conduct or carrer
of a person; as, a sorry figure.

I made some figure there. --Dryden.

Gentlemen of the best figure in the county.
--Blackstone.

6. Distinguished appearance; magnificence; conspicuous
representation; splendor; show.

That he may live in figure and indulgence. --Law.

7. A character or symbol representing a number; a numeral; a
digit; as, 1, 2,3, etc.

8. Value, as expressed in numbers; price; as, the goods are
estimated or sold at a low figure. [Colloq.]

With nineteen thousand a year at the very lowest
figure. --Thackeray.

9. A person, thing, or action, conceived of as analogous to
another person, thing, or action, of which it thus becomes
a type or representative.

Who is the figure of Him that was to come. --Rom. v.
14.

10. (Rhet.) A mode of expressing abstract or immaterial ideas
by words which suggest pictures or images from the
physical world; pictorial language; a trope; hence, any
deviation from the plainest form of statement.

To represent the imagination under the figure of a
wing. --Macaulay.

11. (Logic) The form of a syllogism with respect to the
relative position of the middle term.

12. (Dancing) Any one of the several regular steps or
movements made by a dancer.

13. (Astrol.) A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the
astrological houses. --Johnson.

14. (Music)
(a) Any short succession of notes, either as melody or as
a group of chords, which produce a single complete
and distinct impression. --Grove.
(b) A form of melody or accompaniment kept up through a
strain or passage; a musical or motive; a florid
embellishment.

Note: Figures are often written upon the staff in music to
denote the kind of measure. They are usually in the
form of a fraction, the upper figure showing how many
notes of the kind indicated by the lower are contained
in one measure or bar. Thus, 2/4 signifies that the
measure contains two quarter notes. The following are
the principal figures used for this purpose:


Fig"ure, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Figured; p. pr. & vb. n.
Figuring.] [F. figurer, L. figurare, fr. figura. See
Figure, n.]
1. To represent by a figure, as to form or mold; to make an
image of, either palpable or ideal; also, to fashion into
a determinate form; to shape.

If love, alas! be pain I bear,

No thought can figure, and no tongue declare.Prior.

2. To embellish with design; to adorn with figures.

The vaulty top of heaven Figured quite o'er with
burning meteors. --Shak.

3. To indicate by numerals; also, to compute.

As through a crystal glass the figured hours are
seen. --Dryden.

4. To represent by a metaphor; to signify or symbolize.

Whose white vestments figure innocence. --Shak.

5. To prefigure; to foreshow.

In this the heaven figures some event. --Shak.

6. (Mus.)
(a) To write over or under the bass, as figures or other
characters, in order to indicate the accompanying
chords.
(b) To embellish.

To figure out, to solve; to compute or find the result of.


To figure up, to add; to reckon; to compute the amount of.


Fig"ure, v. t.
1. To make a figure; to be distinguished or conspicious; as,
the envoy figured at court.

Sociable, hospitable, eloquent, admired, figuring
away brilliantly. --M. Arnold.

2. To calculate; to contrive; to scheme; as, he is figuring
to secure the nomination. [Colloq.]

Synonyms: anatomy, bod, build, calculate, chassis, cipher, compute, count on, cypher, design, digit, enter, envision, fancy, fig, figure of speech, flesh, forecast, form, frame, human body, image, image, material body, name, number, pattern, physical body, physique, picture, project, public figure, reckon, see, shape, soma, trope, visualise, visualize, work out

Antonyms: ground

See Also: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, ace, add, add together, adult body, allow, amount, amount, amount of money, apprehend, approximate, average, average out, be, bear claw, bet, binary digit, body, budget, bulk, capitalise, capitalize, Captain Hicks, cinque, cipher, compass, comprehend, conceive of, count, countlessness, cypher, damascene, decal, decalcomania, decimal digit, decoration, deduct, depend, deuce, deuce-ace, device, differentiate, dig, divide, dummy, effect, eight, eighter, eighter from Decatur, emblem, ennead, envisage, estimate, exaggeration, extract, extrapolate, factor, factor in, factor out, female body, fewness, figure eight, figure out, figurehead, figurine, fin, five, fivesome, form, four, foursome, fraction, gauge, get the picture, grasp, guess, half a dozen, heptad, hexad, homo, human, human being, hyperbole, I, ideate, II, III, illustration, imagine, important person, impression, individual, influential person, innumerableness, integer, integrate, interpolate, irony, IV, IX, judge, juvenile body, kenning, leash, lick, linocut, Little Joe, Little Phoebe, look, majority, male body, man, maneuver, manoeuvre, marionette, marking, metaphor, metonymy, minority, miscalculate, misestimate, model, mortal, motif, multiplicity, multiply, Nina from Carolina, nine, niner, nought, numerosity, numerousness, octad, octal digit, octet, octonary, ogdoad, one, organic structure, ornament, ornamentation, oxymoron, pentad, percept, perception, perceptual experience, person, personage, personification, Phoebe, physical structure, plane figure, play, polka dot, preponderance, prevalence, process, prorate, prosopopoeia, puppet, puzzle out, quadruplet, quantise, quantize, quartet, quatern, quaternary, quaternion, quaternity, quint, quintet, quintuplet, reason, recalculate, resolve, rhetorical device, savvy, screen saver, septet, sestet, seven, sevener, sextet, sextuplet, shape, significant digit, significant figure, simile, simulation, single, sise, six, sixer, snowman, solid figure, solve, somebody, someone, soul, spread eagle, statuette, subfigure, subtract, sum, sum of money, survey, synecdoche, take into account, take off, tattoo, tercet, ternary, ternion, terzetto, tetrad, three, three-dimensional figure, threesome, tierce, trey, triad, trine, trinity, trio, triplet, troika, Trojan Horse, two, two-dimensional figure, unity, V, VI, VII, VIII, weave, whole number, Wooden Horse, work, zero, zeugma

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