shape1
/ʃeɪp
/noun
1The external form, contours, or outline of someone or something: she liked the shape of his nose houseplants come in all shapes and sizes [mass noun]: the stones are irregular in shape...
- Morgan hypothesizes that the mound shape was first outlined by a line of posts set in a wall trench, which served as a retaining wall for the fill.
- Suddenly, he noticed a translucent, dark purple flame floating two or three inches away from his sister's skin, outlining the shape of her body.
- For this he reconstructed a Neolithic forest whose outline forms the shape of an endangered falcon.
Synonyms
form, appearance, configuration, formation, structure;
figure, build, physique, body;
contours, lines, outline, silhouette, profile;
design, format;
cut, pattern, mould
1.1A person or thing that is difficult to see and identify clearly: he saw a shape through the mist...
- Slowly the world started to leak in to her mind, her eyes started to identify shapes; she could see the centurions crowded around her whispering.
- Holding out in front of her, trying to keep it steady, she pointed it at several of the moving shapes but couldn't identify any of them.
- The field was denser than the War Six field, but the obstacles were more visible and their shapes were easier to identify.
1.2A specific form or guise assumed by someone or something: a fiend in human shape...
- The cloud assumes a human shape, and begins to solidify.
- Were they a more human form of a being that could assume the shape of any creature on Earth?
- Clouds excite him partly because they perpetually assume new shapes.
Synonyms
guise, likeness, semblance, form, appearance, image, aspect
2A geometric figure such as a square, triangle, or rectangle.Grouping wall decor in geometric shapes such as rectangles, triangles or circles adds interest....
- Some characters looked like geometric shapes, such as triangles.
- Bold, geometric shapes, abstracts, squares and sharp angles are all appropriate.
2.1A piece of material, paper, etc., made or cut in a particular form: stick paper shapes on for the puppet’s eyes and nose...
- Then separate shapes are made by actually cutting the mesh into shapes and casting the paper straight into shapes on the J cloth.
- Cut simple holiday shapes out of paper or felt, then hang with thread from curtain rods, hanging lamps, doorways or over the outside of a lampshade.
- Gris too made extensive use of papier collé, and Matisse's use of cut-out paper shapes in his late work is a development of the technique.
3 [mass noun] The correct or original form or contours of something: her skirt had lost its shape long ago the lid had been battered out of shape...
- I stepped into a pair of slippers that were supposed to look like wolves, but had sort of lost any shape about a year ago.
- As one, they bowed low to her as her form lost shape and soon disappeared altogether.
- The disadvantages of the technique are that, while some characteristics are quite stable, others, such as leaf shape, can vary markedly even on one vine.
3.1Definite or orderly arrangement: check that your structure will give shape to your essay...
- Paterson's love commands that we look deep into the objects that give shape to things: shadow, mirror, glass.
- The okomfo, however, will throw out clues to onlookers so as to differentiate and give shape to each obosom.
- Yet individuals do not have to be rich or famous for their passions to give shape to a community.
3.2The distinctive nature or qualities of something: debates about the future shape of British society...
- Our new understanding will lead us to new tools, which will ‘change the nature and shape of firms.’
- A fulfilled national dream, the railway changed the lives of every man, woman and child in Canada and altered the future and shape of the nation.
- The shape of future health-care legislation is yet to be seen.
4 [mass noun] Good physical condition: she has to work hard to keep in shape I trained with the featherweight champion of Europe to get in shape...
- He had worked hard to get in shape, and he was in really good shape, and he just had some episodes that things weren't quite right.
- As a result, she got herself into shape physically, becoming a kind of Mediterranean Marilyn Monroe.
- He kept in tremendous shape and ate healthier than the diet-crazed Americans he read about.
Synonyms
condition, state, health, state of health, trim, fettle, order, repair
British informal nick
4.1 [with adjective] The specified condition or state of someone or something: he was in no shape to drive the company came through a difficult period in excellent financial shape...
- The Great Depression of this century will probably hit much harder that that of the 1930s since our country is in so much poorer financial shape.
- Data-mining projects are generally a good bet for companies in poor financial shape, looking to technology for quick payback, he says.
- With those kinds of income gains, consumers will be in excellent shape to face the financial challenges that 2005 will bring.
verb [with object]
1Give a particular shape or form to: most caves are shaped by the flow of water through limestone shape the dough into two-inch balls...
- Each flavor contains one of Denali's proprietary inclusions such as the Bear Foot Cookie Dough, which is shaped like a bear's foot.
- When the dough has been shaped into a pyramid, a thick meat and potato stew is poured round it and decorated with whole hard-boiled eggs.
- Samsung, one of Asia's leaders in design, shaped its Compact Mobile Phone concept like a woman's compact.
Synonyms
form, fashion, make, create, mould, model, cast, frame, sculpt, sculpture, block;
carve, cut, hew, whittle
1.1Form or produce (a sound or words): her lips shaped barely audible words...
- Lips shaping words that Althia didn't recognize, Morgana closed her eyes and retreated several steps so that her arms were stretched as far as possible while she continued to grasp Althia's arms.
- Violet, however, was genuinely deep in thought, her lips shaping the words as she puzzled out the riddle.
- Lips shaped silent words and their faces were upturned towards the stone woman.
1.2Make (something) fit the form of something else: [with object and infinitive]: suits have been shaped to fit so snugly that no curve is undefined...
- Every block was shaped to fit just so, leaving little more than a paper-thin gap in between.
- The tile will be safe for the example load if the trench bottom is shaped to fit the tile rather than left flat.
- The fitted and shaped waist styling really suits hour glass figures and can only be welcomed by women who are not stick thin and have voluptuous curves to show.
1.3Determine the nature of; have a great influence on: his childhood was shaped by a loving relationship with his elder brother...
- And thus it was that the career of a great Indian batsman was influenced and shaped by the example of a great Pakistani batsman.
- We of the Never-Never was extremely influential in shaping urban Australia's view of the outback - more than a million copies have been sold, it was adapted for schools, and a film version appeared in 1982.
- Above and beyond contemporary political struggles, the migration of labor can play an interesting role in shaping the very nature of political institutions and the role they play.
Synonyms
determine, create, produce, form, fashion, mould, define, develop, build, construct;
influence, affect
2 [no object] (Of a sports player or athlete) take up a stance or set oneself to perform a particular action: [with infinitive]: I had plenty of time and shaped to kick to the near touchline
Phrases
in any shape or form (or in any way, shape, or form)
in the shape of
lick (or knock or whip) someone/thing into shape
the shape of things to come
shape up or ship out
take shape
throw shapes
Phrasal verbs
shape up
Derivatives
shapeable
- Concrete is fluid and shapeable.
- Zinc, on the other hand, is considered a go-to metal for laptop hinges because it is robust and shapeable.
- Little ones can print complex 3D objects with reusable or shapeable materials.
shaper
- The diamonds he watches so closely are not the rocks on the rings of the rich and famous, they are tiny grains of pure carbon coating the blades, polishers and shapers the company produces.
- So what happens when the opinion shapers - the very origins of mass media and epitome of corporate society - become the target?
- They speak of an extreme environment far removed from the daily norm and largely unknown to most architects - those professional shapers of human habitation who have been largely absent in the engineering of South Pole habitats.
Origin
Old English gesceap 'external form', also 'creation', sceppan 'create', of Germanic origin.
An Old English word related to scoop (Middle English) that originally meant ‘to create’. The origins of to lick into shape go back to early medieval animal lore which claimed that bear cubs were born as formless lumps and were licked into shape by their mother. This belief seems to have persisted for some time, as the current use does not appear until the early 17th century. In Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 3 Gloucester (later Richard III) compares his deformed body to ‘an unlick'd bear-whelp That carries no impression like the dam’. Since then other versions including to knock and whip someone into shape have come into use, possibly reflecting the former popularity of corporal punishment as a parenting tool.
Rhymes
SHAPE2
/ʃeɪp/abbreviation
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.