(figures, figuring, figured)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
A figure is a particular amount expressed as a number, especially a statistic.
It would be very nice if we had a true figure of how many people in this country haven't got a job...
It will not be long before the inflation figure starts to fall...
New Government figures predict that one in two marriages will end in divorce.
N-COUNT
2.
A figure is any of the ten written symbols from 0 to 9 that are used to represent a number.
= digit
N-COUNT
3.
An amount or number that is in single figures is between zero and nine. An amount or number that is in double figures is between ten and ninety-nine. You can also say, for example, that an amount or number is in three figures when it is between one hundred and nine hundred and ninety-nine.
Inflation, which has usually been in single figures, is running at more than 12%...
Crawley, with 14, was the only other player to reach double figures...
N-PLURAL: adj/num N
4.
You refer to someone that you can see as a figure when you cannot see them clearly or when you are describing them.
She waited, standing on the bridge, until his figure vanished against the grey backdrop of the Palace...
N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n
5.
In art, a figure is a person in a drawing or a painting, or a statue of a person.
...a life-size bronze figure of a brooding, hooded woman.
N-COUNT
6.
Your figure is the shape of your body.
Take pride in your health and your figure...
Janet was a natural blonde with a good figure.
N-COUNT: with supp, oft poss/adj N
7.
Someone who is referred to as a figure of a particular kind is a person who is well-known and important in some way.
The movement is supported by key figures in the three main political parties.
N-COUNT: with supp
8.
If you say that someone is, for example, a mother figure or a hero figure, you mean that other people regard them as the type of person stated or suggested.
Sometimes young lads just need to turn to a mother figure for a bit of a chat and reassurance.
N-COUNT: with supp, usu n N, N of n
9.
In books and magazines, the diagrams which help to show or explain information are referred to as figures.
If you look at a world map (see Figure 1) you can identify the major wine-producing regions...
N-COUNT: also N num
10.
In geometry, a figure is a shape, especially a regular shape. (TECHNICAL)
Draw a pentagon, a regular five-sided figure.
N-COUNT: usu supp N
11.
If you figure that something is the case, you think or guess that it is the case. (INFORMAL)
She figured that both she and Ned had learned a lot from the experience.
VERB: V that
12.
If you say 'That figures' or 'It figures', you mean that the fact referred to is not surprising. (INFORMAL)
When I finished, he said, 'Yeah. That figures'...
VERB: that/it V, also it V that
13.
If a person or thing figures in something, they appear in or are included in it.
Human rights violations figured prominently in the report.
VERB: no passive, V in n, also V as n