Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

See What's Trending Now See More Trending Words

figure out

verb

Definition of figure out

  1. transitive verb

  2. 1 :  discover, determine try to figure out a way to do it

  3. 2 :  solve, fathom figure out a problem

See figure out defined for kids

Explore Merriam-Webster

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
steve-bannon
Trending: Bannon: One of Us is Going to be a 'Hegemon'
image1489982902
Devilish Words
time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Examples of figure out in a Sentence

  1. a book of brainteasers that even a really clever person won't have an easy time figuring out

First Known Use of figure out

1600

figure out Synonyms

Synonyms
answer, break, crack, dope (out), solve, puzzle (out), resolve, riddle (out), unravel, unriddle, work, work out
Related Words
conclude, decide, deduce, gather, infer, judge, reason; clear (up), iron out, straighten (out), unscramble, untangle, untie; assume, conjecture, divine, guess, presume, speculate; decipher, decode

Learn More about figure out

  1. See words that rhyme with figure out Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for figure out Spanish Central: Translation of figure out Nglish: Translation of figure out for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of figure out for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up figure out? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

waif

play

an extremely thin woman

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. hegemon "Something having dominant influence over others"

  2. repugnant Trump clarifies his position on racism

  3. white nationalist, white supremacist Trending in 2017

  4. bereft "Lacking something needed, wanted, or expected"

  5. impanel "To choose people to serve on a jury"

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

figure out

Test Your Vocabulary

Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

  • time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
  • Which came first?
True or False

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

watercolor-squares
We're Down With You Being—or Your Being?—a Square

It's about (you? your?) having your say.

image1489982902
Devilish Words

Don't blame a word use error on the devil.

alt-599492594f435
How 'Wonderful' Lost Its Sense of Wonder

A case of semantic bleaching

dog-covering-face
Don't Let Reading This Be Another 'Coulda' 'Shoulda' 'Woulda'

PSA: They're three separate words.

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which word entered the English language first?

Take the quiz
name-more-food
Name More Food!

Test your knowledge of food vocabulary!

Take the quiz
True or False
True or False?

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

Take the quiz
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!

Play the game
Examples: figure out in a Sentence