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Webster 1913 Edition

Shape

Shape

(shāp)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp.
Shaped
(shāpt)
;
p. p.
Shaped
or
Shapen
(shāp′’n)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Shaping
.]
[OE.
shapen
,
schapen
, AS.
sceapian
. The p. p.
shapen
is from the strong verb, AS.
scieppan
,
scyppan
,
sceppan
, p. p.
sceapen
. See
Shape
,
Noun.
]
1.
To form or create; especially, to mold or make into a particular form; to give proper form or figure to.
I was
shapen
in iniquity.
Ps. li. 5.
Grace
shaped
her limbs, and beauty decked her face.
Prior.
2.
To adapt to a purpose; to regulate; to adjust; to direct;
as, to
shape
the course of a vessel
.
To the stream, when neither friends, nor force,
Nor speed nor art avail, he
shapes
his course.
Denham.
Charmed by their eyes, their manners I acquire,
And
shape
my foolishness to their desire.
Prior.
3.
To imagine; to conceive; to call forth (ideas).
[archaic]
Oft my jealousy
Shapes
faults that are not.
Shakespeare
4.
To design; to prepare; to plan; to arrange.
When
shapen
was all this conspiracy,
From point to point.
Chaucer.
Shaping machine
.
(Mach.)
Same as
Shaper
.
–
To shape one’s self
,
to prepare; to make ready.
[Obs.]
I will early
shape me
therefor.
Chaucer.

Shape

,
Verb.
I.
To suit; to be adjusted or conformable.
[R.]
Shak.

Shape

,
Noun.
[OE.
shap
,
schap
, AS.
sceap
in
gesceap
creation, creature, fr. the root of
scieppan
,
scyppan
,
sceppan
, to shape, to do, to effect; akin to OS. gi
skeppian
, OFries.
skeppa
, D.
scheppen
, G.
schaffen
, OHG.
scaffan
,
scepfen
,
skeffen
, Icer.
skapa
,
skepja
, Dan.
skabe
,
skaffe
, Sw.
skapa
,
skaffa
, Goth. ga
skapjan
, and perhaps to E.
shave
, v. Cf.
-ship
.]
1.
Character or construction of a thing as determining its external appearance; outward aspect; make; figure; form; guise;
as, the
shape
of a tree; the
shape
of the head; an elegant
shape
.
He beat me grievously, in the
shape
of a woman.
Shakespeare
2.
That which has form or figure; a figure; an appearance; a being.
Before the gates three sat,
On either side, a formidable
shape
.
Milton.
3.
A model; a pattern; a mold.
4.
Form of embodiment, as in words; form, as of thought or conception; concrete embodiment or example, as of some quality.
Milton.
5.
Dress for disguise; guise.
[Obs.]
Look better on this virgin, and consider
This Persian
shape
laid by, and she appearing
In a Greekish dress.
Messinger.
6.
(Iron Manuf.)
(a)
A rolled or hammered piece, as a bar, beam, angle iron, etc., having a cross section different from merchant bar.
(b)
A piece which has been roughly forged nearly to the form it will receive when completely forged or fitted.
To take shape
,
to assume a definite form.

Webster 1828 Edition

Shape

SHAPE

,
Verb.
T.
pret. shaped; pp. shaped or shapen.
1. To form or create.
I was shapen in iniquity. Ps. 51.
2. To mold or make into a particular form; to give form or figure to; as, to shape a garment.
Grace shap'd her limbs, and beauty deck'd her face. Prior.
3. To mold; to cast; to regulate; to adjust; to adapt to a purpose. He shapes his plans or designs to the temper of the times.
4. To direct; as, to shape a course.
5. To image; to conceive.
Oft my jealousy

Definition 2024

shape

shape

See also: in shape

English

Noun

shape ‎(plural shapes)

  1. The status or condition of something
    The used bookshop wouldn't offer much due to the poor shape of the book.
  2. Condition of personal health, especially muscular health.
    The vet checked to see what kind of shape the animal was in.
    We exercise to keep in good physical shape.
  3. The appearance of something, especially its outline.
    He cut a square shape out of the cake.
    What shape shall we use for the cookies? Stars, circles, or diamonds?
  4. Form; formation.
    • 2006, Berdj Kenadjian, Martin Zakarian, From Darkness to Light:
      What if God's plans and actions do mold the shape of human events?
  5. (iron manufacture) A rolled or hammered piece, such as a bar, beam, angle iron, etc., having a cross section different from merchant bar.
  6. (iron manufacture) A piece which has been roughly forged nearly to the form it will receive when completely forged or fitted.
  7. (cooking, now rare) A mould for making jelly, blancmange etc., or a piece of such food formed moulded into a particular shape.
    • 1918, Rebecca West, The Return of the Soldier, Virago 2014, page 74:
      ‘And if I'm late for supper there's a dish of macaroni cheese you must put in the oven and a tin of tomatoes to eat with it. And there's a little rhubarb and shape.’

Hyponyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:shape

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

  • Appendix:Forms and shapes

Verb

shape ‎(third-person singular simple present shapes, present participle shaping, simple past shaped or (obsolete) shope, past participle shaped or shapen)

  1. (Northern England, Scotland, rare) To create or make.
    Earth was shapen by God for God's folk.‎
    • 1685, Satan's Invisible World Discoveredː
      Which the mighty God of heaven shope.
  2. (transitive) To give something a shape and definition.
    • 1932, The American Scholar, page 227, United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa
      The professor never pretended to the academic prerogative of forcing his students into his own channels of reasoning; he entered into and helped shape the discussion but above all he made his men learn to think for themselves and rely upon their own intellectual judgments.
    • 2013 August 3, “Revenge of the nerds”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
      Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.
    Shape the dough into a pretzel.   For my art project, I plan to shape my clay lump into a bowl.‎
  3. To form or manipulate something into a certain shape.
    • Prior
      Grace shaped her limbs, and beauty decked her face.
    • 2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2-2 Arsenal”, in BBC:
      Bendtner's goal-bound shot was well saved by goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi but fell to Arsahvin on the edge of the area and the Russian swivelled, shaped his body and angled a sumptuous volley into the corner.
  4. (of a country, person, etc) To give influence to.
  5. To suit; to be adjusted or conformable.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  6. (obsolete) To imagine; to conceive.
    • Shakespeare
      Oft my jealousy / Shapes faults that are not.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English shap, schape, from Old English ġesceap ‎(“shape, form, created being, creature, creation, dispensation, fate, condition, sex, gender, genitalia”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- + *skapą ‎(“shape, nature, condition”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep- ‎(“to split, cut”). Cognate with Middle Dutch schap ‎(“form”), Middle High German geschaf ‎(“creature”), Icelandic skap ‎(“state, condition, temper, mood”).

The verb is from Middle English shapen, schapen, from Old English scieppan ‎(“to shape, form, make, create, assign, arrange, destine, order, adjudge”), from Proto-Germanic *skapjaną ‎(“to create”), from the noun. Cognate with Dutch scheppen, German schaffen, Swedish skapa ‎(“to create, make”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: shāp, IPA(key): /ʃeɪp/
  • Rhymes: -eɪp

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