SHAPE • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Shape

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/ʃeɪp/ Listen

noun

Shape n.

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."

2.

That which has form or figure; a figure; an appearance; a being. "Before the gates three sat, On either side, a formidable shape."

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.

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."

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.

verb

Shape v. t. (past shaped; past part. shaped or shapen; pres. part. shaping)

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." "Grace shaped her limbs, and beauty decked her face."

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." "Charmed by their eyes, their manners I acquire, And shape my foolishness to their desire."

3.

To imagine; to conceive; to call forth (ideas). (archaic) "Oft my jealousy Shapes faults that are not."

4.

To design; to prepare; to plan; to arrange. "When shapen was all this conspiracy, From point to point."

Shaping machine. (Mach.) Same as Shaper.

To shape one's self, to prepare; to make ready. (Obs.) "I will early shape me therefor."

Shape v. i. To suit; to be adjusted or conformable. (R.)

See images of 'Shape'

Etymology of 'Shape'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Shape" Quotes from Famous Books

... violent assaults on non-strikers is an ugly feature common to most of them. They sometimes lead to very serious riots and bloodshed. They have played a prominent part in the worst disorders of the last few years. Nowhere have they assumed at times a more threatening shape than in the Bombay Presidency, for in the cotton mills of Bombay itself and of the Ahmedabad district, which employ over 200,000 hands, are collected the largest agglomerations ...

— India, Old and New • Sir Valentine Chirol

... fixed across the partitions and against the walls under the windows provided seating accommodation for the customers. A large automatic musical instrument—a 'penny in the slot' polyphone—resembling a grandfather's clock in shape—stood against one of the partitions and close up to the counter, so that those behind the bar could reach to wind it up. Hanging on the partition near the polyphone was a board about fifteen inches square, over the surface of which were distributed a number of small hooks, numbered. At the ...

— The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists • Robert Tressell

... it seemed that the forest was about to whisper its secret, but something always happened to interrupt. Once it was certainly Azariah's fault, for just as the trees were about to speak he picked up a leaf and began to explain how the shape of an oak leaf differed from that of the leaf of the chestnut and the ash. A patter was heard among the leaves. There she goes—a hare! Joseph said, and a moment afterwards a white thing appeared. A white weasel, ...

— The Brook Kerith - A Syrian story • George Moore

... it is to play our part in this history of the world, when Hinduism and Christianity will unite on behalf of Islam, and in that strife of mutual love and support each religion will attain its own truest shape and beauty. ...

— Freedom's Battle - Being a Comprehensive Collection of Writings and Speeches on the Present Situation • Mahatma Gandhi

... mannish, and scarcely the acme of neatness. A desk, a deck chair, a bench and a couple of old-fashioned windsor chairs; a small table, on which breakfast things were set, an old saddle, a rack of guns and rifles, a few trophies of the chase in the shape of skins and antelope heads comprised the furniture and decorations of the room. And too, in that slightly uncouth collection, something of the character of the proprietor ...

— The Story of the Foss River Ranch • Ridgwell Cullum

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