Collins English-English Dictionary

figure ['fɪgə] ['fɪgjər]

1. 1. n any written symbol other than a letter, esp a whole number

2. 2. n another name for digit

3. 3. n an amount expressed numerically

   a figure of 1800 was suggested

4. 4. n [plural] calculations with numbers

   he's good at figures

5. 5. n visible shape or form; outline

6. 6. n the human form, esp as regards size or shape

   a girl with a slender figure

7. 7. n a slim bodily shape (esp in the phrases keep or lose one's figure)

8. 8. n a character or personage, esp a prominent or notable one; personality

   a figure in politics

9. 9. n the impression created by a person through behaviour (esp in the phrase to cut a fine, bold, etc, figure)

10. 10. n a person as impressed on the mind

    the figure of Napoleon

11. 11. n (in combination)

    father-figure

12. 12. n a representation in painting or sculpture, esp of the human form

13. 13. n an illustration or explanatory diagram in a text

14. 14. n a representative object or symbol; emblem

15. 15. n a pattern or design, as on fabric or in wood

16. 16. n a predetermined set of movements in dancing or skating

17. 17. n [geometry] any combination of points, lines, curves, or planes. A plane figure, such as a circle, encloses an area; a solid figure such as a sphere, encloses a volume

18. 18. n See figure of speech

19. 19. n [rhetoric] [logic] one of the four possible arrangements of the three terms in the premises of a syllogism - Compare mood

20. 20. n [music] a numeral written above or below a note in a part - See figured bass thorough bass

21. 21. n a characteristic short pattern of notes

22. 22. vb [when tr, often foll by up] to calculate or compute (sums, amounts, etc)

23. 23. vt. [tr; usually takes a clause as object] [informal] [chiefly US, Canadian, and NZ] to think or conclude; consider

24. 24. vt. [tr] to represent by a diagram or illustration

25. 25. vt. [tr] to pattern or mark with a design

26. 26. vt. [tr] to depict or portray in a painting, etc

27. 27. vt. [tr] [rhetoric] to express by means of a figure of speech

28. 28. vt. [tr] to imagine

29. 29. vt. [tr] [music] to decorate (a melody line or part) with ornamentation

30. 30. vt. to provide figures above or below (a bass part) as an indication of the accompanying harmonies required - See figured bass thorough bass

31. 31. vi. [intr; usually foll by in] to be included

    his name figures in the article

32. 32. vi. [intr] [informal] to accord with expectation; be logical

    it figures that he wouldn't come

33. 33. vi. See also figure on figure out

34. 34. vi. [Etymology] C13: from Latin figura a shape, from fingere to mould