Is "figures" actually a word?

[d_r]

Not like "action figures" or "charts and figures" but like "he figures."

Is it really a word?

Read this "news story"

http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/21974771/north-ga-child-finds-skull-in-yard-possibly-human

===========


"Them little eyes, they don't miss nothing," Jeff Stevens said.

An experienced hunter, Jeff Stevens didn't figure this skull could belong to any animal.

"About this big and about 3/8 thick on the skull part. I've killed a little bit of everything there is and there ain't no skull I've ever seen that looked like that except a human just in seeing pictures and stuff," he said.

He said their dog, Annie, is always dragging stuff up into the yard from the woods and figures that's how it ended up just feet away from their home.

[elleng]

1. Yes; as such, its a legitimate verb:

to come to a judgment about after discussion or consideration <we figured that we had better arrive early at the concert in order to get good seats>
Synonyms choose, conclude, determine, figure, name, opt, resolve, settle (on or upon)

[planetc]

2. yes. eom

[WinkyDink]

3. Is Google broken?

[d_r]

10. I tried googling it

but couldn't figure out if it was a real word or not.

[TimberValley]

4. Yes, it can be a verb.

Verb form = "The weather figures into our decision-making process today."

[BainsBane]

5. from dictionary.com

fig·ure [fig-yer; especially British fig-er] Show IPA noun, verb, fig·ured, fig·ur·ing.
noun
1.a numerical symbol, especially an Arabic numeral.
2.an amount or value expressed in numbers.
3.figures, the use of numbers in calculating; arithmetic: to be poor at figures.
4.a written symbol other than a letter.
5.form or shape, as determined by outlines or exterior surfaces: to be round, square, or cubical in figure.
Relevant Questions
How To Figure?
How Much Is Six Figures?
How To Figure Square Yar...
How To Figure Linear Fee...

verb (used with object)
23.to compute or calculate (often followed by up ): to figure up a total.
24.to express in figures.
25.to mark or adorn with a design or pattern.
26.to portray by speech or action.
27.to represent or express by a figure of speech.

[d_r]

11. OK, so

verb (used with object)
23.to compute or calculate (often followed by up ): to figure up a total.
24.to express in figures.
25.to mark or adorn with a design or pattern.
26.to portray by speech or action.
27.to represent or express by a figure of speech.

----------------
I don't see it. It isn't the first one. It isn't the second. It isn't the third. It isn't the fourth or fifth. Or am I just missing it?

[BainsBane]

19. it derives from 23

to calculate, to decide or determine.

[d_r]

36. OK thanks

I wasn't sure the way it was written if that "calculate" had to be about math or numbers - "figures." It can be applied more broadly like "figuring something out." Thanks.

[cbrer]

6. It figures you'd ask... nt

[pinboy3niner]

12. lol

[AsahinaKimi]

32. LOL

I thought that too!

[pinboy3niner]

7. It figures that someone would post this

[cthulu2016]

8. I reckon it is.

[PoliticAverse]

9. Yes, it is used as a synonym for think, believe or imagine.

www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/figure?showCookiePolicy=true

I most often hear it used as "I figure" instead of "I think" or "I believe".

"I figure Obama will defeat Romney".

And just as you would say someone else 'thinks' or 'believes' you would say someone else 'figures'.

I think the use of 'figure' in this manner is much more common in certain parts of the U.S. than others.

[Drew Richards]

13. Past paticiple of to figure

[randome]

14. It's a common term used at beauty contests.

[Isoldeblue]

15. Yep. Go figure....

[MineralMan]

16. Is "dictionary" obsolete?

nt

[DisgustipatedinCA]

17. Are articles obsolete? You're missing a "the". n/t

[MineralMan]

18. No. I just did not put dictionary between

quotation marks. Figure means the same as reckon. Both mean to calculate. Both are used the same way, colloquially. English is a rich language.

ETA: I added the punctuation. Feel better now?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

20. I didn't feel poorly before now

You shouldn't try to squelch threads like this--you should embrace them. They give you a chance to go all pedantic on someone's ass.

This one was all in fun, MM. Really.

[MineralMan]

21. Thank you for your kind advice.

It's interesting that the only post you made in this thread was to criticize me. Seeya.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

22. Focus on the "in fun" part. That was the operative phrase.

[MineralMan]

24. I focus on whatever seems to me to be in focus.

That's my modus operandi. Yours might differ from mine. What was in focus for me is that you did not enter the thread, except to comment on my post. With that in mind, I will not reply to any further posts in this subthread.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

27. You're way too oversensitive. Do what you need to do, but you've made a mountain out of nothing

You'll know when I'm being serious.

[FSogol]

23. I reckon.

[MineralMan]

25. By my calculation, I think you have the right idea.

[FSogol]

26. Figures. n/t

[nolabear]

28. I expect it is. I'm fixing to find out.

Colloquial but correct.

[d_r]

29. Thank you everyone who replied

I asked because the dictionary definition wasn't clear to me. It says to "calculate" but I wasn't sure if this usage of the word was over shooting that. Google didn't help because the word is used in different ways and there wasn't a clear way to search for it.

I wondered if the use of the word was colloquial. I am from this area, so I wanted to hear from people outside this area.

It seems like it is considered an appropriate use of the word.

Thank you again.

[onenote]

33. It may not be what you intended, but your post raising the issue came across as a condescending

swipe at the speaker in the statement you quoted, not as a sincere question about the meaning of the word.

[d_r]

34. I know what the word means

I am from here. I am not sure if it is really a word, I wondered if it was a word in other parts of the country. I understand the way it was meant, I've said it and I've said "I reckon" but I've been told that reckon isn't really a word it is colloquial. I don't know the speaker in the statement I quoted, it is from the newspaper.

[d_r]

35. oh you mean the reporter that wrote the article

that I was taking a swipe at them. I understand now. It did stand out to me that it was written in a colloquial way but I wasn't trying to be mean to the author.

[Spider Jerusalem]

30. ...

from "figure" - in colloquial phrase it (or that) figures, it is reasonable, likely, or understandable; it makes sense (orig. and chiefly U.S.).

to figure out: To work out (a sum) by means of figures; more widely, to estimate or calculate; hence, to work out, make out. Chiefly U.S.

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. "Thou art alwayes figuring diseases in me"

Shakespeare (Measure for Measure)

That's the first use in that sense in the Oxford English Dictionary.

[Quantess]

37. Itz a figurez of speech!