figure of eight

American  

noun

1. figure eight.

2. a knot resembling the figure 8.

---

figure of eight British  

noun

1. an outline of the number 8 traced on ice by a skater

2. a flight manoeuvre by an aircraft outlining a figure 8

3. 1. a knot in the shape of a figure 8 made to prevent the unreeving of a rope

   2. a climber's knot in the shape of a figure 8 made with a doubled rope to provide a secure loop

   3. an angler's knot sometimes used to attach a fly to a leader or dropper

---

Etymology

Origin of figure of eight

First recorded in 1595–1605

Example Sentences

The TLI placed Apollo on a "free-return trajectory" - often illustrated as a figure of eight shape.

From BBC • Jul. 12, 2019

A pattern for the three women, hopping around one another in a figure of eight, already shows Mr. Taylor’s felicity of design.

From New York Times • Dec. 18, 2016

She skated round and across the pond several times, then settled down to make a figure of eight, resolved to have it scored deeply in the ice before the Terror came.

From The Terrible Twins by Jepson, Edgar

Additional support is given to the veins if the bandage is applied as a figure of eight.

From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Thomson, Alexis

Towards the south were mud banks and mangrove islands, through which the channel zigzagged like a figure of eight, and then the view was closed by the scrub on Sunday Island.

From The Book of the Bush Containing Many Truthful Sketches Of The Early Colonial Life Of Squatters, Whalers, Convicts, Diggers, And Others Who Left Their Native Land And Never Returned by Macfarlane, J.