fig|ure

Look at other dictionaries:

• fig|ure|head — «FIHG yuhr HEHD», noun. 1. a person who is the head in name only, without real authority: »The old man is just a figurehead; his son really runs the business. 2. a statue or carving placed for ornament on the bow of a ship …   Useful english dictionary

• fig|ure-skate — figure skate, an ice skate with a slight toothed curve on the point of the blade and a high shoe, used for figure skating. fig|ure skate «FIHG yuhr SKAYT», intransitive verb, skat|ed, skat|ing. to engage in figure skating. –figure skater …   Useful english dictionary

• fig·ure·head — /ˈfigjɚˌhɛd, Brit ˈfıgəˌhɛd/ noun, pl heads [count] 1 : a carved figure (as of a woman) on a ship s bow an elaborately carved figurehead 2 : a person who is called the head or chief of something but who has no real power The king is merely a… …   Useful english dictionary

• con|fig|ure — «kuhn FIHG yuhr», transitive verb, ured, ur|ing. to make or arrange in a certain form: »For some reason, I ve always thought of Queen Elizabeth I as being configured along the lines of Edith Sitwell (New Yorker) …   Useful english dictionary

• cult-fig|ure — «KUHLT FIHG yuhr, uhr», noun. a person or figure that is the object of a cult or popular adulation: »We have not, so far, come up with a cult figure to equal Father Christmas (Punch) …   Useful english dictionary

• dis|fig|ure|ment — «dihs FIHG yuhr muhnt», noun. 1. the act of disfiguring: »the disfigurement of walls by scribblers. 2. a disfigured condition: »The disfigurement of his face was caused by an explosion. SYNONYM(S): defacement, deformity. 3. something that… …   Useful english dictionary

• dis|fig|ure — «dihs FIHG yuhr», transitive verb, ured, ur|ing. to spoil the appearance of; hurt the beauty of: »A scar disfigured his face. Large billboards disfigured the countryside. SYNONYM(S): deform …   Useful english dictionary

• pre|fig|ure|ment — «pree FIHG yuhr muhnt», noun. the act of prefiguring …   Useful english dictionary

• pre|fig|ure — «pree FIHG yuhr», transitive verb, ured, ur|ing. 1. to represent beforehand by a figure or type: »In one painting of Christ, His shadow is that of a cross, prefiguring the Crucifixion. 2. to imagine or picture to oneself beforehand: »My first… …   Useful english dictionary

• re|con|fig|ure — «REE kuhn FIHG yuhr», transitive verb, ured, ur|ing. to change the form or parts of (an aircraft, computer, or other apparatus or device): »The air traffic control and navigation complex which exists today is essentially a hodgepodge of war… …   Useful english dictionary