FIGURE EIGHT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does figure eight mean? 

• FIGURE EIGHT (noun)
  The noun FIGURE EIGHT has 3 senses:

1. a two-dimensional figure having the shape of the number eight

2. a knot having the shape of the numeral 8; tied in a rope that has been passed through a hole or pulley and that prevents the rope from coming loose

3. a skating figure that carves an 8 in the ice

  Familiarity information: FIGURE EIGHT used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FIGURE EIGHT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A two-dimensional figure having the shape of the number eight

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

figure 8; figure eight; figure of eight

Hypernyms ("figure eight" is a kind of...):

plane figure; two-dimensional figure (a two-dimensional shape)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A knot having the shape of the numeral 8; tied in a rope that has been passed through a hole or pulley and that prevents the rope from coming loose

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

figure eight; figure of eight

Hypernyms ("figure eight" is a kind of...):

knot (any of various fastenings formed by looping and tying a rope (or cord) upon itself or to another rope or to another object)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A skating figure that carves an 8 in the ice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("figure eight" is a kind of...):

figure (a predetermined set of movements in dancing or skating)

 Context examples 

We have been in this room two hours, and Mrs. Hudson has made some change in that figure eight times, or once in every quarter of an hour.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)