shape (shap)

[ Swithe go shape a shippe of shides and of bordes. O blake Nyght! as folk in bokes rede, That shapen art by God this world to hyde At certein tymes with thy derke wede, That under that men myghte in reste abyde. Chaucer, Troilus, iii. 1480. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Ps. li. 5. 2. To give shape or form to; cut, mold, or make into a particular form: as, to shape a garment; to shape a ve el on the potters' wheel. To the forge with it then; shape it. Shak., M. W. of W., iv. 2. 239. But that same weed ye've shaped for me, It quickly shall be sewed for thee. John Thomson and the Turk (Child's Ballads, III. 356). A Ribbon bound and shap'd her slender Waist. Prior, Colin's Mistakes, viii. Only those items which I notice shape my mind. W. James, Prin. of Psychol., I. 402. Words worth was wholly void of that shaping imagination which is the highest criterion of a poet. Lowell, Study Windows, p. 116. 3. To adapt, as to a purpose; cause to conform; adjust; regulate: with to or unto. Good sir, shape yourself To understand the place and noble persons You live with now. Fletcher, Mad Lover, i. 1. Charm'd by their Eyes, their Manners I acquire, And shape my Foolishne to their Desire. Prior, Solomon, ii. So, as I grew, I rudely shaped my life To my immediate wants. Browning , Pauline. 4. To form with the mind; plan; contrive; devise; arrange; prepare. At which the God of Love gan loken rowe, Right for despit, and shop to ben ywroken. Chaucer , Troilus, i. 207. You may shape , Amintor, Causes to cozen the whole world withal, And yourself too. Beau. and Fl . , Maid's Tragedy, iii. 2. I see the bottom of your question; and, with these gentlemen's good leave, I will endeavour to shape you an an Bunyan , Pilgrim's Progre , p. 166. swer. 5t. To get ready; addre (one's self to do something). Upon the chaungynge of the moone, Whan light lees is the world a nyght or tweyne, And that the welkin shap hym for to reyne, He streight o mor we unto his nece wente. Chaucer, Troilus, iii. 551. "ze, certes," quath he, "that is soth," and shop hym to Piers Plowman (C), xiv. 247. walke. 6. To direct (one's course); betake (one's self): as, to shape one's course homeward. He will aray hym full rad with a route noble, And shape hym to our shippes with his shene knightes. Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), I. 1144. Now to shores more soft She [the Muse] shapes her prosperous sail. Drayton, Polyolbion, vii. 5. Behold, in awful march and dread array The long-expected squadrons shape their way! Add is on, The Campaign. [ shape + -able .] 7. To image; conceive; call or conjure up. Oft my jealousy IMG:content-0793.png:[blocks in formation] Shapes faults that are not. Shak., Othello, iii. 3. 148. Guilt shapes the Terror; deep within The human heart the secret lies Of all the hideous deities. Also shapeable . De Foe , Robinson Crusoe, x. shape (shap), v.; pret. and pp. shaped (pp. formerly shapen ), ppr. shaping. [(a) IMG:content-0794.jpg:[blocks in formation] Tulip-beds of different shape and dyes, Bending beneath the invisible West-wind's sighs. Moore, Lalla Rookh, Veiled Prophet. The martyrdom which in an infinite variety of shapes awaits those who have the heart, and will, and conscience to fight a battle with the world. Hawthorne , Seven Gables, vii. When we say that a body can be moved about without altering its shape , we mean that it can be so moved as to keep unaltered all the angles in it. W. K. Clifford, Lectures, I. 312. 2. That which has form or figure; a mere form, image, or figure; an appearance; a phantasm. 'Tis strange he will not let me sleep, but dives Into my fancy, and there gives me shapes That kneel and do me service, cry me king. Beau. and Fl., Phil aster, i. 1. The other shape , If shape it might be called that shape had none Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb. Milton , P. L., ii. 666. He hears quick footsteps - a shape flits by. Whittier , Mogg Megone, i. 3. Concrete embodiment or form, as of a thought, conception, or quality. I am so busy with this frivolous project, and can bring it to no shape , that it almost confounds my capacity. Ford , Love's Sacrifice, iii. 2. Froude, Hist. Eng. (ed. 1864), II. 128. Yet the smooth words took no shape in action.. IMG:content-0795.jpg:[blocks in formation] And we may dre her, and I'll help to fit her With a tuft-taffata cloke. B. Jonson, New Inn, ii. 1. Kinaston, the boy, had the good turn to appear in three shapes : first as a poor woman in ordinary clothes to please Morose; then in fine clothes, as a gallant, and in them was clearly the prettiest woman in the whole house; and lastly, as a man. Pepys , Diary, Jan. 7, 1661. A scarlet cloth shape (for Richard). Sale Catalogue of Covent Garden Theatre , Sept., 1829, p. 33. 5. Way; manner. But schortly for to telle the schap of this tale, the duk hade the douztiere men to deme the so the. William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1160. But are ye in any shape bound to this birkie Pepper cull? Scott , Fortunes of Nigel, xXXV. 6. In industrial art: ( a ) A pattern to be followed by workmen; especially, a flat pattern to guide a cutter. ( b ) Something intended to serve as a framework for a light covering, as a bonnet frame.-7. In cookery, a de ert dish consisting of blanc-mange, rice, corn-starch, jelly, or the like cast in a mold, allowed to stand till it sets or firms, and then turned out for serving. -8. The private parts, especially of a female. [Obsolete or prov. Eng.] To lick into shape. See lick. To take shape, to a ume a definite form, order, or plan. =Syn. 1. Form, Fashion, etc. (see figure ), Whittier, The Over-Heart, outline, mold, cut, build, cast. A emble you soudiours, sure men & nobill, Shapyn in shene ger, with shippis to wynde, The Grekys to greue, & in grem brynge. IMG:content-0796.jpg:[merged small][graphic][merged small] Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2572. shaped (shāpt), I wol erly shape me therfore. Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 809. IMG:content-0797.png:[blocks in formation] p. a. Having a varied ornamental form: noting an object such as is usually of simple form, as a tray or a panel of a piece of furniture, which, instead of being rectangular, round, or oval, is broken up into various curves. A Shaped Mirror, 18th century. shapele (shāp'les), a. [ lar form; wanting symmetry of dimensions; deformed; amorphous. He is deformed, crooked, old and sere, Ill-faced, worse bodied, shapele everywhere. Shak., C. of E., iv. 2. 20. The shapele rock or hanging precipice. Pope , E ay on Criticism, 1. 158. 2t. That has no shaping tendency or effect; that effects nothing. Wear out thy gentle youth with shapele idlene . Shak ., T. G. of V., i. 1. 8.