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shape
1[ sheyp ]
noun
- the quality of a distinct object or body in having an external surface or outline of specific form or figure.
Synonyms: ,
- this quality as found in some individual object or body form:
This lake has a peculiar shape.
- something seen in outline, as in silhouette:
A vague shape appeared through the mist.
- an imaginary form; phantom.
Synonyms: ,
- an assumed appearance; guise:
an angel in the shape of a woman.
- a particular or definite organized form or expression:
He could give no shape to his ideas.
- proper form; orderly arrangement.
Synonyms: ,
- condition or state of repair:
The old house was in bad shape. He was sick last year, but is in good shape now.
Synonyms: ,
- the collective conditions forming a way of life or mode of existence:
will the shape of the future be?
- the figure, physique, or body of a person, especially of a woman:
A dancer can keep her shape longer than those of us who have sedentary jobs.
- something used to give form, as a mold or a pattern.
- Also called section. Building Trades, Metalworking. a flanged metal beam or bar of uniform section, as a channel iron, I-beam, etc.
- Nautical. a ball, cone, drum, etc., used as a day signal, singly or in combinations, to designate a vessel at anchor or engaged in some particular operation.
verb (used with object)
- to give definite form, shape, organization, or character to; fashion or form.
Synonyms: ,
- to couch or express in words:
to shape a statement.
- to adjust; adapt:
He shaped everything to suit his taste.
- to direct (one's course, future, etc.).
- to file the teeth of (a saw) to uniform width after jointing.
- Animal Behavior, Psychology. to teach (a desired behavior) to a human or other animal by successively rewarding the actions that more and more closely approximate that behavior.
- Obsolete. to appoint; decree.
verb (used without object)
- to come to a desired conclusion or take place in a specified way:
If discussions shape properly, the companies will merge.
verb phrase
- to assume a specific form:
The plan is beginning to shape up.
- to evolve or develop, especially favorably.
- to improve one's behavior or performance to meet a required standard.
- to get oneself into good physical condition.
- (of longshoremen) to get into a line or formation in order to be assigned the day's work.
SHAPE
2[ sheyp ]
noun
- Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers, Europe.
shape
1/ ʃɪ /
noun
- the outward form of an object defined by outline
- the figure or outline of the body of a person
- a phantom
- organized or definite form
my plans are taking shape
- the form that anything assumes; guise
- something used to provide or define form; pattern; mould
- condition or state of efficiency
to be in good shape
- out of shape
- in bad physical condition
- bent, twisted, or deformed
- take shapeto assume a definite form
verb
- whenintr, often foll by into or up to receive or cause to receive shape or form
- tr to mould into a particular pattern or form; modify
- tr to plan, devise, or prepare
to shape a plan of action
- an obsolete word for appoint
SHAPE
2/ ʃɪ /
acronym for
- Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
Derived Forms
- ˈ, noun
- ˈ貹, adjective
Other Word Forms
- a· a· adjective
- dzܳȴ verb (used with object) outshaped outshaping
- · noun verb (used with object) preshaped preshaping
- ٰԲ· verb (used with object) transshaped transshaping
- un·a· adjective
- un·a· adjective
- ܲ·iԲ adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of shape1
Word History and Origins
Origin of shape1
Idioms and Phrases
- take shape, to assume a fixed form; become definite:
The house is beginning to take shape.
More idioms and phrases containing shape
In addition to the idiom beginning with shape , also see bent out of shape ; in condition (shape) ; lick into shape ; take shape .Synonym Study
Example Sentences
She added the government wanted the public's input in shaping the new model to create "a fairer, more sustainable system".
For too long, many Democrats have treated public opinion as something they must respond to rather than shape.
Trump's clash with the Fed is ostensibly rooted in differences over where the bank should fix its key interest rate, which plays an influential role shaping borrowing costs for credit cards, mortgages and other loans.
“I didn’t know anything about the shape of humans,” Gurr says.
So AI might do well to look back at how the world has shaped us, letting us do human things by the way our brains now make the world.
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Related Words
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.
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