(~s, shaping, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
The ~ of an object, a person, or an area is the appearance of their outside edges or surfaces, for example whether they are round, square, curved, or fat.
Each mirror is made to order and can be designed to almost any ~ or size.
...little pens in the ~ of baseball bats...
...sofas and chairs of contrasting ~s and colours...
The buds are conical or pyramidal in ~...
These bras should be handwashed to help them keep their ~...
N-COUNT: oft N of n, also in N
2.
You can refer to something that you can see as a ~ if you cannot see it clearly, or if its outline is the clearest or most striking aspect of it.
Lying in bed we often see dark ~s of herons silhouetted against the moon.
N-COUNT
3.
A ~ is a space enclosed by an outline, for example a circle, a square, or a triangle.
He suggested that the ~s represented a map of Britain and Ireland.
N-COUNT
4.
The ~ of something that is planned or organized is its structure and character.
The last two weeks have seen a lot of talk about the future ~ of Europe...
N-SING: usu N of n
5.
Someone or something that ~s a situation or an activity has a very great influence on the way it develops.
Like it or not, our families ~ our lives and make us what we are.
VERB: V n
6.
If you ~ an object, you give it a particular ~, using your hands or a tool.
Cut the dough in half and ~ each half into a loaf.
VERB: V n into n
7.
see also ~d
8.
If you say that something is the ~ of things to come, you mean that it is the start of a new trend or development, and in future things will be like this.
British Rail says its new Liverpool Street station is the ~ of things to come.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
9.
If you say, for example, that you will not accept something in any ~ or form, or in any way, ~ or form, you are emphasizing that you will not accept it in any circumstances.
I don’t condone violence in any ~ or form...
PHRASE: PHR after v emphasis
10.
If someone or something is in ~, or in good ~, they are in a good state of health or in a good condition. If they are in bad ~, they are in a bad state of health or in a bad condition.
He was still in better ~ than many young men...
The trees were in bad ~ from dry rot.
PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR
11.
You can use in the ~ of to state exactly who or what you are referring to, immediately after referring to them in a general way.
The Prime Minister found a surprise ally today in the ~ of Jacques Delors, the Commission President...
PHRASE: PHR n
12.
If you lick, knock, or whip someone or something into ~, you use whatever methods are necessary to change or improve them so that they are in the condition that you want them to be in.
You’ll have four months in which to lick the recruits into ~...
PHRASE: V inflects
13.
If something is out of ~, it is no longer in its proper or original ~, for example because it has been damaged or wrongly handled.
Once most wires are bent out of ~, they don’t return to the original position.
PHRASE: PHR after v
14.
If you are out of ~, you are unhealthy and unable to do a lot of physical activity without getting tired.
= unfit
? fit
PHRASE: v-link PHR
15.
When something takes ~, it develops or starts to appear in such a way that it becomes fairly clear what its final form will be.
In 1912 women’s events were added, and the modern Olympic programme began to take ~.
PHRASE: V inflects