What is "lay figure"

Lay \Lay\, n.

1. That which lies or is laid or is conceived of as having been laid or placed in its position; a row; a stratum; a layer; as, a lay of stone or wood.
   --Addison.

   A viol should have a lay of wire strings below.
   --Bacon.

   Note: The lay of a rope is right-handed or left-handed according to the hemp or strands are laid up. See Lay, v. t., 16. The lay of land is its topographical situation, esp. its slope and its surface features.

2. A wager. ``My fortunes against any lay worth naming.''

3. 1. A job, price, or profit. [Prov. Eng.]
      --Wright.

   2. A share of the proceeds or profits of an enterprise; as, when a man ships for a whaling voyage, he agrees for a certain lay. [U. S.]

4. (Textile Manuf.)

   1. A measure of yarn; a lea. See 1st Lea (a) .

   2. The lathe of a loom. See Lathe, 3.

5. A plan; a scheme. [Slang] --Dickens. Lay figure.

   1. A jointed model of the human body that may be put in any attitude; -- used for showing the disposition of drapery, etc.

   2. A mere puppet; one who serves the will of others without independent volition.

      Lay race, that part of a lay on which the shuttle travels in weaving; -- called also shuttle race.

      the lay of the land, the general situation or state of affairs.

      to get the lay of the land, to learn the general situation or state of affairs, especially in preparation for action.

Figure \Fig"ure\ (f[i^]g"[-u]r; 135), n. [F., figure, L. figura; akin to fingere to form, shape, feign. See Feign.]

1. The form of anything; shape; outline; appearance.

   Flowers have all exquisite figures.
   --Bacon.

2. The representation of any form, as by drawing, painting, modeling, carving, embroidering, etc.; especially, a representation of the human body; as, a figure in bronze; a figure cut in marble.

   A coin that bears the figure of an angel.
   --Shak.

3. A pattern in cloth, paper, or other manufactured article; a design wrought out in a fabric; as, the muslin was of a pretty figure.

4. (Geom.) A diagram or drawing, made to represent a magnitude or the relation of two or more magnitudes; a surface or space inclosed on all sides; -- called superficial when inclosed by lines, and solid when inclosed by surfaces; any arrangement made up of points, lines, angles, surfaces, etc.

5. The appearance or impression made by the conduct or career of a person; as, a sorry figure.

   I made some figure there.
   --Dryden.

   Gentlemen of the best figure in the county.
   --Blackstone.

6. Distinguished appearance; magnificence; conspicuous representation; splendor; show.

   That he may live in figure and indulgence.
   --Law.

7. A character or symbol representing a number; a numeral; a digit; as, 1, 2,3, etc.

8. Value, as expressed in numbers; price; as, the goods are estimated or sold at a low figure. [Colloq.]

   With nineteen thousand a year at the very lowest figure.
   --Thackeray.

9. A person, thing, or action, conceived of as analogous to another person, thing, or action, of which it thus becomes a type or representative.

   Who is the figure of Him that was to come.
   --Rom. v. 14.

10. (Rhet.) A mode of expressing abstract or immaterial ideas by words which suggest pictures or images from the physical world; pictorial language; a trope; hence, any deviation from the plainest form of statement. Also called a figure of speech.

    To represent the imagination under the figure of a wing.
    --Macaulay.

11. (Logic) The form of a syllogism with respect to the relative position of the middle term.

12. (Dancing) Any one of the several regular steps or movements made by a dancer.

13. (Astrol.) A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses.
    --Johnson.

14. (Music)

    1. Any short succession of notes, either as melody or as a group of chords, which produce a single complete and distinct impression.
       --Grove.

    2. A form of melody or accompaniment kept up through a strain or passage; a musical phrase or motive; a florid embellishment.

       Note: Figures are often written upon the staff in music to denote the kind of measure. They are usually in the form of a fraction, the upper figure showing how many notes of the kind indicated by the lower are contained in one measure or bar. Thus, 2/4 signifies that the measure contains two quarter notes. The following are the principal figures used for this purpose: -- 2/22/42/8 4/22/44/8 3/23/43/8 6/46/46/8

       Academy figure, Canceled figures, Lay figure, etc. See under Academy, Cancel, Lay, etc.

       Figure caster, or Figure flinger, an astrologer. ``This figure caster.''
       --Milton.

       Figure flinging, the practice of astrology.

       Figure-of-eight knot, a knot shaped like the figure 8. See Illust. under Knot.

       Figure painting, a picture of the human figure, or the act or art of depicting the human figure.

       Figure stone (Min.), agalmatolite.

       Figure weaving, the art or process of weaving figured fabrics.

       To cut a figure, to make a display. [Colloq.]
       --Sir W. Scott.

n. 1 A jointed model of the human body used by artists, or to display clothes. 2 An unimportant person.

n. dummy in the form of an artist's jointed model of the human body