[syn: formative, shaping, plastic]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Shape \Shape\ (sh[=a]p), v. t. [imp. Shaped (sh[=a]pt); p. p.
Shaped or Shapen (sh[=a]p"'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, n.]
1. To form or create; especially, to mold or make into a
particular form; to give proper form or figure to.
[1913 Webster]
I was shapen in iniquity. --Ps. li. 5.
[1913 Webster]
Grace shaped her limbs, and beauty decked her face.
--Prior.
[1913 Webster]
2. To adapt to a purpose; to regulate; to adjust; to direct;
as, to shape the course of a vessel.
[1913 Webster]
To the stream, when neither friends, nor force,
Nor speed nor art avail, he shapes his course.
--Denham.
[1913 Webster]
Charmed by their eyes, their manners I acquire,
And shape my foolishness to their desire. --Prior.
[1913 Webster]
3. To imagine; to conceive; to call forth (ideas). [archaic]
[1913 Webster]
Oft my jealousy
Shapes faults that are not. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
4. To design; to prepare; to plan; to arrange.
[1913 Webster]
When shapen was all this conspiracy,
From point to point. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Shaping machine. (Mach.) Same as Shaper.
To shape one's self, to prepare; to make ready. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
I will early shape me therefor. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
shaping
adj 1: forming or capable of forming or molding or fashioning;
"a formative influence"; "a formative experience" [syn:
formative, shaping, plastic]
n 1: any process serving to define the shape of something [syn:
shaping, defining]
2: the act of fabricating something in a particular shape [syn:
formation, shaping]