father/mother/authority figure• And he registersgenuinehurt at the fact that BuzzyregardsBuck as more of a father figure than himself.• He spoke seldom, but he was never impatient with her, always kind, a companionablefather figure.• As we get older, we may be abused by other authority figures - teachers, doctors, bosses.• One wonders what is the unspoken view of the other authority figures involved in setting this up?• A young girl needs a strong mother figure.• Disrespect the authority figure out there on the field and then wonder why the kids do it in their classrooms.• It would seem that we are far more likely to obey unquestioningly when the authority figure is actually present.• Eventually Daley made the remarkabletransition from political boss to father figure.
6figures[plural]British EnglishBrE the activity of adding, multiplying etc numbers 计算,算术SYN arithmetic
a natural ability with figures
算术天赋
have a head for figures (=be good at arithmetic) 有算术头脑
9.drawing 图TCN (written abbreviation fig.) a numbered drawing or a diagram in a book 〔书中有编号的〕图,图表
10put a figure on it/give an exact figureVALUEto say exactly how much something is worth, or how much or how many of something you are talking about 准确说出价值 [数量]
It’s worth a lot but I couldn’t put a figure on it.
这东西值很多钱,但是我说不出具体数字。
11.a fine figure of a man/womanHBHsomeone who is tall and has a good body 身材好的男子/女子
Examples from the Corpus
a fine figure of a man/woman• Vellios was a finefigure of a man.
12.a figure of funSTUPID/NOT SENSIBLEsomeone who people laugh at 被嘲笑的人
Examples from the Corpus
a figure of fun• Seems my figure is a Figure of Fun ... To everyone but me.• It was not a figure of fun.• It's always sad when a figure of fun, an easy target for a laugh, disappears into oblivion.
13.on ice 在冰场上DSO a pattern or movement in figure skating 〔花样滑冰中的〕花样
nCOLLOCATIONS
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + figure
high/low
The figures are worryingly high.
sales figures
We exceeded our target sales figures.
unemployment figures
There have been changes in the way the unemployment figures are calculated.
trade figures (=showing the value of a country's exports compared to imports)
Trade figures showed a slump last month.
government figures (=figures produced by the government)
Government figures suggest a moderate recovery in consumer spending.
official figures
According to official figures, two million houses in England are inadequately heated.
the latest figures
The latest figures show that crimes are down by 0.2 percent.
the exact figure
The government was unable to give the exact figure for the number of foreign workers in the country.
an approximate/rough figure
He gave us an approximate figure for the cost of the repairs.
a ballpark figure informal (=one that is not exact)
Can you give me a ballpark figure of the likely price?
verbs
reach double/six etc figures (=be 10 or more/100,000 or more etc)
The death toll in the region has reached five figures.
add up the figures
I must have made a mistake when I added up the figures.
release the figures (=make them public)
The company will release the sales figures later this week.
phrases
in single figures (=less than 10)
Women heads of department are in single figures.
in double figures (=between 10 and 99)
Only two of the group had scores in double figures.
in round figures (=to the nearest 10,20,100 etc)
In round figures, about 20 million people emigrated from Europe during that period.
according to the figures
According to official figures, exam results have improved again this year.
a four/five/six etc figure number (=a number in the thousands/ten thousands/hundred thousands etc)
Choose a four figure number that you can easily remember.
Examples from the Corpus
figure• Now, the. 78 figure might seem pretty good if one did not know two crucial facts about the study.• a figure in a red robe• Freddy's bentfigurelimped in front of him.• Dark figuresemerged from the building, and disappeared into the night.• Ohio's employmentfigures for December are not available.• That means a commitment to every figure in it, a commitment to taking a risk to achieve the budgetedoutputs.• But for the writers and early translators of the Gospels, it was a very precise term, denoting a very exactfigure.• Inflation in Japan is around 3%, while the Germanfigure is now over 4%.• Government figurespublished today show that unemployment is rising again.• She eats enormousmeals but still manages to keep her figure.• Susie wore a close-fitting black dress which made the most of her figure.• On a cheque, write the amount in words and in figures.• a rare 16th centuryJapanesefigure• The motionlessfigures ap-peared determined still to make the leap to the playground.• Add up that row of figures, and transfer the full amount to the top of the next page.• The Gingrich investigation is hardly the first time Cole has taken on highly placed public figures.• Retailers are reporting their November sales figures today.• sales figures• Ali was one of the great sports figures of this century.• Caroline really has a terrificfigure.• By the age of retirement that figure will increase to one in every five.• ""We need $30,000 to get the project started.'' ""How close are you to that figure?''• She turned slowly and looked at the figure in the chair.• He offered to buy the team for the figure of $140 million.• I saw the figure of a woman below the bridge.• The figures were recently released by the magazine.• A comparison of the two figures shows the estimatedprofit on investment.• Exercise and a sensiblediet will help you get your figure back after having a baby.
in round figures• Estimates for the delay, given in round figures, ranged from two to eight hours.• The LibDems, in round figures, had 45 percent, Conservatives 25 percent and Labour 17.• That's five and a half hours at a bit under two knots - say ten milesin round figures.
political figure• Produced news reports have shifted from focusing on the words of candidates and political figures to concentrating on their images and actions.• His legalresponsibilities for issues such as extradition have also brought him into contact with senior legal and political figures in Ireland.• Mr Heseltine was one of the most colourfulpolitical figures of the past 30 years.• Sportsmen, journalists, newspaperphotographers and local political figures were among the many walking in the cortege.• He has not yet found a running mate, although he has approached several minorpolitical figures.• He is arguably the third most powerfulpolitical figure in the state, after Gov.• He returned to his contact lists, abandoning the military personnel and concentrating upon purely political figures.• The political figure who has tried the hardest to harness this newfound enthusiasm is Pat Robertson.
watch ... figure• Alida watched her black figure, stiff as a crow, from the window.• At first there seemed to be nothing there, but as he watched the figure of a man emerged.• I nodded my head, watching the shadowed figuresgesturing, belching in hunger, nodding heads, tipplingbottles.• Marian watched the tall figure in grey disappear through the trees.• It seemed like she wasn't really watching the figures on telly though.• Lindsey stifled a sigh as she watched his retreating figure.
figure2 ●●●S1W3 verb
1[intransitiveI]IMPORTANT to be an important part of a process, event, or situation, or to be included in something (以重要地位)出现
figure in/among
Social issues figured prominently in the talks.
社会问题是会谈的重点。
My wishes didn’t figure among his considerations.
我的愿望不在他的考虑之中。
Reform now figures high on the agenda.
眼下,改革是当务之急。
2[transitiveT] informalTHINK/HAVE THE OPINION THAT to form a particular opinion after thinking about a situation 〔经过考虑后〕认为,以为
figure (that)
From the way he behaved, I figured that he was drunk.
从他的行为来看,我认为他醉了。
It was worth the trouble, I figured.
我认为这点麻烦值得。
3that figures/(it) figuresspoken especially American EnglishAmE
a)EXPECTused to say that something that happens is expected or typical, especially something bad 〔尤指不好的事〕在意料之中,早就料到了
‘It rained the whole weekend.’ ‘Oh, that figures.’
“整个周末都在下雨。”“噢,早料到了。”
b)LOGICALused to say that something is reasonable or makes sense 这有道理,这合乎情理
It figures that she’d be mad at you, after what you did.
你那么做,她对你发火是在情理之中的。
4go figureAmerican EnglishAmE spoken said to show that you think something is strange or difficult to explain 这就怪了〔表示认为某事奇怪或难以解释〕
‘He didn’t even leave a message.’ ‘Go figure.’
“他甚至没有留个口信。”“这就怪了。”
Examples from the Corpus
go figure• "He didn't even leave a message." "Go figure."
5[transitiveT]American EnglishAmECOUNT/CALCULATE to calculate an amount 计算SYN work out
I’m just figuring my expenses.
我正在计算自己的开支。
6figure on somethingphrasal verbphr v informal especially American EnglishAmEto expect something or include it in your plans 预料到;计划,打算
She was younger than any of us had figured on.
她比我们大家想的都年轻。
7figure somebody/something ↔ outphrasal verbphr v
a)to think about a problem or situation until you find the answer or understand what has happened 弄懂,搞清楚SYN work out
figure out how/what/why etc
Can you figure out how to do it?
你能想出来怎么做吗?
If I have a map, I can figure it out.
要是我有地图的话就能弄明白了。
Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out (=find a way to solve the problem).
别担心,我们会找到办法解决的。
b)UNDERSTANDto understand why someone behaves in the way they do 弄明白,理解〔某人〕SYN work out
Women. I just can’t figure them out.
女人,我就是弄不懂她们。
Examples from the Corpus
figure out• And it annoyed her intensely, not least of all because she still felt a long way from figuring him out!• Clinton, for all his mental meanderings, is no dope and has figured all this out.• It takes Jean a really long time to figure Dara out.• This is particularly useful for addingexplanatorygraphs to otherwise incomprehensible sets of figures before printing out.• Never figured that one out, either.• Another dissented from the finalfigure, holding out for a loweraward.• The realfigure turned out to be £8.0 billion.• You haven't figured it out yet?
figure out how/what/why etc• He told the military what he wanted done, but he let them figure out how best to do it.• Dazedly I got back into bed and tried to figure out what had happened.• It took Wyler a couple of days to figure out what had happened.• They need an exorcist to figure out what in the devilpossessed them to return to their worst form from last season.• He went on talking while I tried to figure out what it meant.• They're trying to figure out what's going on, what they're going to grow into.• Oh, so you can talk to Barbara and figure out how to approach them and tell them whatever.• Deion has yet to figure out how to throw to himself.
Examples from the Corpus
figure• Destiny will figure further down Olivetti's range, on personal computers and the M700.• The operation went fine, and they figure he'll be home next week.• What do you figure his chances of winning are?• You haven't figured it out yet?• She was younger and prettier than any of us' dfigured on.• We had their offense and defensefigured out exceptionally well.• He needs to sit down and figure out how many people are coming.• The dwarfs were devastated, because they could not figure out how to saveSnow White this time.• So they're up there in the cashiers' office trying to figure out where all the money's coming from.• Lott figured prominently in the Chiefs' win last night.• There has been criticism about the currentmethod for figuring social security retirement benefits.• The Reichmanns figured that if New York went out of business the world would go with it.• I figured we had as much right to vote for old crooks as new ones.• I'm telling you because I figure you're the only one who can keep a secret.
figured prominently• New technologyfigured prominently as participants found ways of matchingregional information and research needs with fast-paced advances in computer technology.• Strategy never figured prominentlyexcept in the most generalized way.• Housing Programmes Housing has not figured prominently in inner-urban policy.• They had all figured prominently in the electionmanifesto of the Labour party at the time.• Luca Cumani's well-related fillyfigured prominently until fading in the closing stages.
figure (that)• A neat example of a sinusoidal oscillator is the Wien bridge oscillator shown in figure 10.13.• Every region reported a decline when compared to April's figures.• Harrick figured if he could do it in six, he could do it in 4. 8.• A few figures in battle-dress were walking round the perimeter.• One of the tasks facing all freshmen is to figure out ways to counter this loneliness.• Reserves and productionfiguresquoted in this annual report are on a working interest basis unless otherwise stated.• I buy the pieshell because I figure that's easier than making it.• Some figure the King would appreciate the tribute.• Jasper built things more or less by figuring them out.
From Longman Business Dictionary
figurefig·ure1 /ˈfɪgəˈfɪgjər/ noun
1figures [plural] a number representing an amount, especially an officially published number
I need this week’s sales figures.
These are the worst unemployment figures in three years.
Poor trade figures rattled the market.
February figures showed growth in lending had slowed to 5.5%.