[sheyp] 
noun, verb, shaped, shap⋅ing.| 1. | the quality of a distinct object or body in having an external surface or outline of specific form or figure. |
| 2. | this quality as found in some individual object or body form: This lake has a peculiar shape. |
| 3. | something seen in outline, as in silhouette: A vague shape appeared through the mist. |
| 4. | an imaginary form; phantom. |
| 5. | an assumed appearance; guise: an angel in the shape of a woman. |
| 6. | a particular or definite organized form or expression: He could give no shape to his ideas. |
| 7. | proper form; orderly arrangement. |
| 8. | condition or state of repair: The old house was in bad shape. He was sick last year, but is in good shape now. |
| 9. | the collective conditions forming a way of life or mode of existence: What will the shape of the future be? |
| 10. | the figure, physique, or body of a person, esp. of a woman: A dancer can keep her shape longer than those of us who have sedentary jobs. |
| 11. | something used to give form, as a mold or a pattern. |
| 12. | Also called section. Building Trades, Metalworking. a flanged metal beam or bar of uniform section, as a channel iron, I-beam, etc. |
| 13. | 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. |
| 14. | to give definite form, shape, organization, or character to; fashion or form. |
| 15. | to couch or express in words: to shape a statement. |
| 16. | to adjust; adapt: He shaped everything to suit his taste. |
| 17. | to direct (one's course, future, etc.). |
| 18. | to file the teeth of (a saw) to uniform width after jointing. |
| 19. | 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. |
| 20. | Obsolete. to appoint; decree. |
| 21. | to come to a desired conclusion or take place in a specified way: If discussions shape properly, the companies will merge. |
| 22. | shape up,
|
| 23. | take shape, to assume a fixed form; become definite: The house is beginning to take shape. |
