- figure of speech
- 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.
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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. 2000.
