■ noun
1》 visible shape or configuration.
↘style, design, and arrangement in an artistic work as distinct from its content.
2》 a way in which a thing exists or appears: essays in book ~.
↘any of the ways in which a word may be spelled, pronounced, or inflected.
↘ Philosophy the essential nature of a species or thing, especially (in Plato's thought) regarded as an abstract ideal which real things imitate or participate in.
3》 a type or variety.
4》 the customary or correct method or procedure.
↘a ritual or convention.
5》 a printed document with blank spaces for in~ation to be inserted.
6》 chiefly Brit. a class or year in a school.
7》 the state of a sports player with regard to their current standard of play.
↘details of previous per~ances by a racehorse or greyhound.
↘a person's mood and state of health.
↘ Brit. in~al a criminal record.
8》 Brit. a long bench without a back.
9》 Printing, chiefly US variant spelling of ~e .
10》 Brit. a hare's lair.
11》 a temporary wooden structure used to hold concrete during setting.
■ verb
1》 combine to create (something).
↘go to make up.
↘establish or develop.
↘articulate (a word or other linguistic unit).
2》 make or be made into a particular ~: ~ the dough into balls.
↘( ~ people/things up or ~ up ) chiefly Military bring or be brought into a certain ~ation.
Phrases
in (or chiefly Brit. on ) ~ playing or per~ing well.
off (or chiefly Brit. out of ) ~ not playing or per~ing well.
Derivatives
~ability noun
~able adjective
~less adjective
~lessly adverb
~lessness noun
Origin
ME: from OFr. ~e (n.), fo(u)rmer (v.), both based on L. ~a 'a mould or ~'.