c> page R12 2 a person who fights A — see also firefighter, freedom fighter, prize­fighter at prizefight 3 {approving) a person who does not give up hope or admit that they are defeated if-

_ ±; £4#

‘fighter-bomber noun a military plane that can fight other planes in the air and also drop bombs

'fig leaf noun 1 a leaf of a fig tree, traditionally used for covering the sex organs of naked bodies in paintings and on statues Tcfe^Wnf ( feiftkfRYEUfo Hit) 2 a thing that is used to hide an embarrassing fact or situation iHlITjJ

figment /'figmant/ noun IFTCil a figment of sb’s im­agination something that sb has imagined and that does not really exist   StitWAM; 0

figurative /'figarativ; NAmE also ‘figja-/ adj. [usually before noun] 1 (of language, words, phrases, etc. lg-gf

is]      #f) used in a way that is different from the usual meaning, in order to create a particular mental picture. For example, ‘He exploded with rage’ shows a figura­tive use of the verb ‘explode’, ft Pgu Eft —- compare literal(I), metaphorical 2 (of paintings, art, etc. ik H , A; A ^f) showing people, animals and objects as they really look AflEft: a figurative artist

—                 compare abstract adj.(3) ► fig ura tive ly adv.: She is, figuratively speaking, holding a gun to his head, fj A

fig ure 0-w /’figaft); NAmE 'figjar/ noun, verb

* noun

►                 NUMBERS 1 [C, often pi.] a number representing a

particular amount, especially one given in official infor­mation (ftAIM,          ft)$tT: the

latest trade/sales/unemployment, etc. figures H fr W jgJI, HHI,          O By 2004, this figure had risen

to 14 million. fij 2004 AAft,      1400

Jj o O Experts put the real figure at closer to 75%.

75%0 2 [C] a symbol rather than a word representing one of the numbers between 0 and 9 &$(.: Write the figure 7’ on

the board,   O a six-figure salary

(= over 100 000 pounds or dollars) Aj&ffc(ft§r7.k ( BPlg M 10 7j s^ctc ) O His salary is now in six figures. jtk W §r tK iJfl & i A Wi o — see also double figures, single figures 3 figures [pi.] (informal) the area of mathematics that deals with adding, multiplying, etc. numbers MA EflTCfl arithmetic: Are you any good at figures? j^Eft          0 I’m afraid I don’t have a head

for figures (= I am not good at adding, etc.), jfi i B

►                 PERSON A 4 [C] a person of the type mentioned AW;

A±: a leading figure in the music industry H A If — fifAloa political figure Vk'faAW 0 a figure of authority ^       # — see also father figure, mother

figure 5 [C] the shape of a person seen from a distance or not clearly ( jzs&LAW )  ) KW>\

a tall figure in black —THAiliATAJ^

►                 SHAPE OF BODY 6 [C] the shape of the human body, especially a woman’s body that is attractive MU; W

She’s always had a good figure. M

—                 0 I’m watching my figure (= trying not

to get fat).   .

►                 IN PAINTING/STORY ik 11 ; & * 7 [C] a person or an

animal in a drawing, painting, etc., or in a story ( ££ M ^      # A W ) A , $W: The central figure in the

painting is the artist’s daughter. ® AlsliPAATitllltfft

it)      L

►                 STATUE it# 8 [C] a statue of a person or an animal

( A,    ) lift, M ft: a bronze figure of a horse

►                 PICTURE/D1AGRAM |f| # 9 [C] {abbr. fig.) a picture, diagram, etc. in a book, that is referred to by a number

( A A Eft ) HI, A: The results are illustrated in figure 3 opposite.       3

GEOMETRY Jt fnf lO [C] a particular shape formed by lines or surfaces 0 B : a five-sided figure £ B O a solid figure

MOVEMENT ON ICE   11 [C] a pattern or series of

movements performed on ice (    Eft ) A#

IE1BI be/become a figure of fun to be/become sb that other people laugh at       cut

a ... figure (of a person A) to have a particular ap­pearance & ft ■ ■ • Eft #T; M #: He cut a striking figure in his white dinner jacket.      ft

0 put a figure on sth to say the exact price or number of sth         ft • • • Eft       ■— more at fact

■ verb

—                 BE IMPORTANT Itf! 1 [V] ~ (as sth) (in/among sth) to be

part of a process, situation, etc. especially an important part ilf g|5f; ^i-lftSP# H3H feature: The question of the peace settlement is likely to figure prominently in the talks. TT IB JIM A

ffc M Eft ^ ft M M o 0 My feelings about the matter didn’t seem to figure at all.

Mo o It did not figure high on her list of priorities, MS O Do rstHl figure in

your plans? ft#Eftif $J

—                 THINK/DECIDE iAA; iA aE 2 (informal) to think or decide that sth will happen or is true iAA, iA^- (

b^IA ) : [V (that)] I figured (that) if I took the night train, I could be in Scotland by morning. ficiAA,

O We figured the

sensible thing to do was to wait. ffc ft] iA A, ft] H Eft l$?A ^ ^ o 0 [VN] That’s what I figured. IA ^ Ji ^ W p [also V wh-]

—                 CALCULATE if % 3 [VN] (NAmE) to calculate an amount or

the cost of sth if % (       ) : We figured the

attendance at 150 000.   15 AA#fP0

ITST7JI go ‘figure (NAmE, informal) used to say that you do not understand the reason for sth, or that you do not want to give an explanation for sth because you think it is obvious jjf& AH; PJSfl          People are

more aware of the risks of smoking nowadays, but more young women are smoking than ever. Go figure! gftfE A

CIMT/Mffliftji;*,

To A if AiHAHl it/that figures used to say that sth was expected or seems logical (

^ ) A it a, 'a A 'If 11:       ‘John called in sick.’ ‘That

figures, he wasn’t feeling well yesterday. ’ ‘AfUfT fti$A imm To ”          IMAEiiSJASfllo ” o

(disapproving) ‘She was late again.’ ‘Yes, that figures.’ XjfifJTo ”     ” EEESS'figure on

sth | ‘figure on (sb/sth) doing sth to plan sth or to do sth; to expect sth (to happen) if £l]; fill; Mf45!J plan on : I hadn’t figured on getting home so late. ^teritfcif i'J    A® ^o .figure sb/sth^'out

1 to think about sb/sth until you understand them/it #H;      Bran work out: We couldn’t

figure her out.       Aiiftko o [+ wh-] I can’t figure

out how to do this.          2 to calcu­late an amount or the cost of sth if jf (          )

0BCI work out :    [+ wh-] Have you figured out how

much the trip will cost? M fj H ft & 'A % jf] Ifo % ft M

figured /'figad; NAmE 'figjard/ adj. [only before noun] (technical AiH) decorated with a small pattern W: figured pottery

fig-ure-head /'figahed; NAmE -gjarh-/ noun 1 a person who is in a high position in a country or an organiza­tion but who has no real power or authority W ^ 7c ^(ft^-^AA; MfHi 2 a large wooden statue, usually representing a woman, that used to be fixed to the front end of a ship ( MAW )

.figure of 'eight (BrE) (NAmE .figure eight) noun (pi. figures of eight, figure eights) a pattern or movement that looks like the shape of the number 8 ( Sift

W) 8^B

.figure of 'speech noun (pi. figures of speech) a word or phrase used in a different way from its usual meaning in order to create a particular mental picture or effect \m^

'figure-skating noun [U] a type of ice skating in which you cut patterns in the ice and do jumps and spins j&ffWdE — compare speed skating