figure of eight

American  

noun

1. figure eight.

2. a knot resembling the figure 8.

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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

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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

An octagon is a figure of eight sides.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 28, February, 1860 by Various

Very soon we had both mastered the reef-knot, and had tried our hand at others—the bowline, the figure of eight, the Carrick-bend, and the old swab-hitch.

From Jim Davis by Masefield, John

The little hand-carriage had made another great loop on the damp sand, and was coming back again, gradually spinning out a slim figure of eight, half a mile long.

From Hunted Down: the detective stories of Charles Dickens by Dickens, Charles