figure out
Britishverb
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to calculate or reckon
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to understand
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Discover or determine, as in Let's figure out a way to help . [Early 1900s]
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Solve or decipher, as in Can you figure out this puzzle? [Early 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“So it’s necessary to figure out when we can’t control things and find out how to adapt.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
"I want to safely meet our children and then figure out how to talk about it," she told the paper.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
"It's an important time for us to reach across and to try to figure out how we can mutually help each other."
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
“Let’s put an AI commission on warp speed, and figure out what we’re going to do to sensibly regulate.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
“Just tell him that I’ll be up to see him in a day or two, and that we’ll have to figure out some other way to catch those monkeys.”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
