8️⃣ A double loop ⛸️ A skating pattern 🪢 A stopper knot

figure eight

1 4.9

A skating move that traces two joined loops on the ice

noun

: ocho

Slowly, gradually, the sweeps of his figure-eights decreased, at last starting to zero in on a location on the map.
traced a figure eight
make a figure eight
doing figure eights

Examples

The skaters said he'd traced a couple of figure eights with her, then they drove right.

Fiction book (1998)
The skater practiced her figure eight movements, gliding effortlessly across the rink.
I made a figure eight.

Fiction book (1999)
She'd been tracing a figure eight, and Henry had gone over to have a look at the engine.

Fiction book (1998)
She guided him through some small circles, then some figure eights.

Fiction book (1995)
It reminded me of my toy train, an electric engine that had run a two-tiered figure eight around the hall outside our bathroom.

Fiction book (1995)
I walk an angular figure eight, covering the blocks, taking Broadway across the bridge into Marble Hill, squaring back along the river's edge, and returning home via two side streets.

Fiction book (1999)
It sketched effortless spirals and figure eights, spun like a top, and traced blurred characters with its speed.

Fiction book (1991)
As the instructor demonstrated, she gracefully performed a figure eight on the ice, captivating the audience.
During the competition, he impressed the judges by completing a perfect figure eight without losing speed.

Synonyms

figure 8

vsfigure eight

1 3.6

A shape made of two loops that cross in the middle like the number eight

is the movement that forms that curve by tracing it on the ice

figure of eight

vsfigure eight

4.8

A shape like the number eight made by one line crossing itself

is the ice movement that produces that continuous pattern by tracing it

Surface Forms

figure eight singular

figure eights plural

Morphology

figure + eight

The phrase directly combines 'figure' (shape) + 'eight' (the numeral) to denote a shape resembling the digit 8, and the knot meaning is a straightforward descriptive extension of that shape. This compositional, cross-linguistically common naming pattern makes the MWE readily understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

The skating move figure eight is called that because the skater actually draws the shape of the number eight on the ice, making two smooth loops. That's why it means 'a skating movement that traces an 8'.