[syn: calculate, cipher, cypher, compute, work out, reckon, figure]
5. understand;
- Example: "He didn't figure her"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Figure \Fig"ure\ (f[i^]g"[-u]r; 135), n. [F., figure, L. figura;
akin to fingere to form, shape, feign. See Feign.]
1. The form of anything; shape; outline; appearance.
[1913 Webster]
Flowers have all exquisite figures. --Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
A coin that bears the figure of an angel. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
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 surfaces; any arrangement made up of points,
lines, angles, surfaces, etc.
[1913 Webster]
5. The appearance or impression made by the conduct or career
of a person; as, a sorry figure.
[1913 Webster]
I made some figure there. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
Gentlemen of the best figure in the county.
--Blackstone.
[1913 Webster]
6. Distinguished appearance; magnificence; conspicuous
representation; splendor; show.
[1913 Webster]
That he may live in figure and indulgence. --Law.
[1913 Webster]
7. A character or symbol representing a number; a numeral; a
digit; as, 1, 2,3, etc.
[1913 Webster]
8. Value, as expressed in numbers; price; as, the goods are
estimated or sold at a low figure. [Colloq.]
[1913 Webster]
With nineteen thousand a year at the very lowest
figure. --Thackeray.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
Who is the figure of Him that was to come. --Rom. v.
14.
[1913 Webster]
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. Also
called a figure of speech.
[1913 Webster]
To represent the imagination under the figure of a
wing. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
11. (Logic) The form of a syllogism with respect to the
relative position of the middle term.
[1913 Webster]
12. (Dancing) Any one of the several regular steps or
movements made by a dancer.
[1913 Webster]
13. (Astrol.) A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the
astrological houses. --Johnson.
[1913 Webster]
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 phrase or motive; a
florid embellishment.
[1913 Webster]
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: --
2/22/42/8 4/22/44/8 3/23/43/8 6/46/46/8
[1913 Webster]
Academy figure, Canceled figures, Lay figure, etc. See
under Academy, Cancel, Lay, etc.
Figure caster, or Figure flinger, an astrologer. "This
figure caster." --Milton.
Figure flinging, the practice of astrology.
Figure-of-eight knot, a knot shaped like the figure 8. See
Illust. under Knot.
Figure painting, a picture of the human figure, or the act
or art of depicting the human figure.
Figure stone (Min.), agalmatolite.
Figure weaving, the art or process of weaving figured
fabrics.
To cut a figure, to make a display. [Colloq.] --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Figure \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.
[1913 Webster]
If love, alas! be pain I bear,
[1913 Webster]
No thought can figure, and no tongue declare.Prior.
[1913 Webster]
2. To embellish with design; to adorn with figures.
[1913 Webster]
The vaulty top of heaven
Figured quite o'er with burning meteors. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. To indicate by numerals; also, to compute.
[1913 Webster]
As through a crystal glass the figured hours are
seen. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
4. To represent by a metaphor; to signify or symbolize.
[1913 Webster]
Whose white vestments figure innocence. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
5. To prefigure; to foreshow.
[1913 Webster]
In this the heaven figures some event. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
To figure out, to solve; to compute or find the result of.
To figure up, to add; to reckon; to compute the amount of.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Figure \Fig"ure\, v. i.
1. To make a figure; to be distinguished or conspicious; as,
the envoy figured at court.
[1913 Webster]
Sociable, hospitable, eloquent, admired, figuring
away brilliantly. --M. Arnold.
[1913 Webster]
2. To calculate; to contrive; to scheme; as, he is figuring
to secure the nomination. [Colloq.]
[1913 Webster]
go figure a phrase used by itself as an interjection to
mean "How can one explain that?", or to express puzzlement
over some seeming contradiction. [Colloq.]
[PJC]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
figure
n 1: a diagram or picture illustrating textual material; "the
area covered can be seen from Figure 2" [syn: figure,
fig]
2: 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" [syn: human body,
physical body, material body, soma, build, figure,
physique, anatomy, shape, bod, chassis, frame,
form, flesh]
3: one of the elements that collectively form a system of
numeration; "0 and 1 are digits" [syn: digit, figure]
4: a model of a bodily form (especially of a person); "he made a
figure of Santa Claus"
5: 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" [syn: name, figure, public figure]
6: a combination of points and lines and planes that form a
visible palpable shape
7: an amount of money expressed numerically; "a figure of $17
was suggested"
8: the impression produced by a person; "he cut a fine figure";
"a heroic figure"
9: 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" [syn: number, figure]
10: language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense [syn:
trope, figure of speech, figure, image]
11: a unitary percept having structure and coherence that is the
object of attention and that stands out against a ground
[ant: ground]
12: a decorative or artistic work; "the coach had a design on
the doors" [syn: design, pattern, figure]
13: a predetermined set of movements in dancing or skating; "she
made the best score on compulsory figures"
v 1: judge to be probable [syn: calculate, estimate,
reckon, count on, figure, forecast]
2: 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?" [syn: figure,
enter]
3: 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" [syn: visualize, visualise, envision,
project, fancy, see, figure, picture, image]
4: make a mathematical calculation or computation [syn:
calculate, cipher, cypher, compute, work out,
reckon, figure]
5: understand; "He didn't figure her"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
715 Moby Thesaurus words for "figure":
Aristotelian sorites, Establishment, Goclenian sorites,
Platonic body, Platonic form, Platonic idea, VIP, accept, acclaim,
acknowledge, act, acute-angled triangle, add, adornment, adumbrate,
advert to, aesthetic form, algebraize, allude to, amount,
anacrusis, anatomy, angle, apparition, appear, appearance,
appraise, appreciate, archetype, aroma, arrange, art form,
asiaticism, aspect, assess, assume, attribute, background,
background detail, badge, baron, bass passage, be conspicuous,
be demonstrable, be featured, be irrefutable, be logical,
be reasonable, be somebody, be something, be taken as, bead,
beauties, bejewel, believe, beribbon, bespangle, big gun, big man,
big name, bigwig, binary digit, bit, blazon, block out, blueprint,
bod, body, body forth, body-build, bones, bourdon, brand, brass,
brass hat, bravura, bridge, brilliancy, brouillon, build, burden,
bust, cachet, cadence, calculate, call, carcass, cartoon, carve,
carving, cast, catch on to, categorical syllogism, celebrity,
character, characteristic, charge, chart, chassis, chisel, chorus,
cipher, class, clay, clod, coda, colors, colors of rhetoric,
compute, concede, concert, conclude, configuration, conformation,
consider, constellation, contour, contrive, copy, corpus, cost,
count, count on, create, cube, cuboid, cusp, cut, cut a dash,
cut a figure, cut out, cynosure, damage, daring, dash, decagon,
decipher, decoration, decorative composition, decorative style,
delineation, demonstrate, demonstration, denominate, denote,
design, designate, detail, determine, development, device, devise,
diagram, diamond, differentia, differential, dig, digit, dignitary,
dignity, dilemma, display, distinctive feature, divide, division,
dodecagon, dodecahedron, doll, dolly, dope out, draft, dramatics,
drawing, dummy, earmark, ebauche, eclat, effect, effigy, efform,
eidolon, elder, elegant variation, elevation, embellishment,
emblem, emblematize, embody, embroidery, engrave, enthymeme,
enumerate, equilateral triangle, esquisse, estimate, etalage,
euphuism, evaluate, exemplify, exhibition, exhibitionism,
expenditure, expense, exposition, extract roots, facet,
false front, false image, fame, famousness, fanfaronade, fantasy,
fantoccini, fashion, father, fathom, feather, feature, features,
figuration, figurative language, figurativeness, figure in,
figure of speech, figure on, figure out, figure up, figure-ground,
figurehead, figurine, filigree, fine writing, finger, fix, flag,
flair, flaunt, flaunting, flavor, flesh, floridity, floridness,
flounce, flourish, flower, floweriness, flowers of speech,
flowery style, foil, folderol, folk hero, foot, force, forecast,
foreground detail, foreshadow, forge, form, form an estimate,
formalize, format, formation, found, foursquare, frame, framework,
frill, galaxy, garland, gauge, gem, genre, gestalt, get,
gingerbread man, give an appreciation, gleam, glitter, glory, glow,
gnomon, graph, grasp, great man, ground plan, guess, guise, gust,
hallmark, harmonic close, heptagon, hero, heroine, hew, hexagon,
hexahedron, histrionics, hold good, hold water, house plan, hulk,
human being, hypercube, ichnography, icon, icosahedron, idiocrasy,
idiosyncrasy, idol, idolum, illuminate, illustrate, illustration,
image, imagery, imagine, imago, immortal, impersonate,
important person, impress, impression, incarnate, index,
individual, individualism, inner form, integer, intend, interests,
interlude, intermezzo, interpret, introductory phrase,
isosceles triangle, jewel, judge, keynote, knead, knock out, kudos,
lay figure, lay out, lay plans, layout, leader, leitmotiv,
lick into shape, light, likeness, lineaments, lines, lion, live,
look, lords of creation, luminaries, luminary, lushness,
luxuriance, magnate, main features, make, make a figure,
make a projection, make a splash, make allowance for,
make an estimation, make arrangements, make sense, makeup,
man of mark, man of straw, manifestation, manikin, mannequin,
manner, manner of speaking, mannerism, marionette, mark, marking,
master spirit, material body, matrix, measure, metaphorize,
methodize, mint, mirage, mirror, modality, mode, model,
modus tollens, mogul, mold, monument, mood, motif, motive, mould,
movement, multiply, musical phrase, musical sentence, nabob, name,
national style, nature, nonliterality, nonliteralness, notability,
notable, notation, notoriety, notoriousness, number, numeral,
numerate, numero, oblong, obtuse-angled triangle, octagon,
octahedron, odor, organize, ornament, ornamental motif,
ornamentation, outline, oxygon, pageant, pageantry, paint,
panjandrum, parade, parallelepiped, parallelogram, paralogism,
part, participate, particularity, passage, pattern, peculiarity,
pentagon, pentahedron, perceive, period, period style, person,
person of note, person of renown, personage, personality,
personalize, personate, personify, phantasm, phantasma,
phantasmagoria, phantom, phase, phasis, phasm, phenomenon, phrase,
physical body, physique, pick out, picture, pillar of society,
plan, plan ahead, plan on, plate, pleiad, plot, plume, point at,
point out, point to, polygon, polyhedron, pop hero, popular hero,
popular idol, popularity, portrait bust, power, power elite,
prearrange, prefigure, presence, presume, pretypify, price,
price tag, prism, prismoid, prize, profile, program, project,
projection, property, prosyllogism, prototype, pseudosyllogism,
public figure, publicity, puppet, purple passage, purple patches,
put faith in, pyramid, quadrangle, quadrant, quadrature,
quadrilateral, quality, quirk, rank, rate, rationalize, realize,
reckon, reclame, recognition, rectangle, refer to, reference,
reflect, refrain, regard, relief, renown, repeated figure, report,
representation, reputation, repute, resolution, resolve, respect,
response, rhombohedron, rhomboid, rhombus, ribbon, ritornello,
rough, rough out, roughcast, roughhew, rule, rule of deduction,
ruling circle, sachem, savor, scarecrow, schedule, schematize,
score, sculpt, sculpture, seal, section, see, seeming, select,
semblance, set, set up, settle, shade, shadow, shadow forth, sham,
shape, shapes, shine, show, showing-off, side, sign,
significant form, silhouette, similize, simulacrum, singularity,
skeleton, sketch, slant, smack, snowman, social lion, solve, soma,
somebody, something, sorites, spangle, specialty, specify,
spectacle, specter, splash, splurge, square, staginess, stamp,
stand for, stand to reason, stanza, star, statement, statuary,
statue, statuette, stigmatize, strain, structure, style, subject,
subtract, sum, summate, superstar, suppose, syllogism, symbol,
symbolize, systematize, tab, table, tailor, tailpiece, taint, take,
take account of, take into account, take into consideration, tally,
tang, taste, tetragon, tetragram, tetrahedron,
the bubble reputation, the great, the top, theatrics, theme,
thermoform, think, tinsel, token, top brass, top people, torso,
tot, tot up, total, total effect, tote, touch, tournure, trait,
translate, trapeze, trapezium, trapezoid, triangle, trick,
trilateral, trope, trunk, trust in, turn, turn of expression,
tutti, tutti passage, twig, twist, tycoon, type, typify,
understand, valuate, value, variation, vaunt, verse,
very important person, view, viewpoint, vision, vogue,
waking dream, wax figure, waxwork, way of speaking, whole number,
wildest dream, wise, wood carving, work, work out, work up,
working drawing, worthy, wraith, wreathe