Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - shape

 I. verb  (~d; shaping)  Etymology: Middle English, from Old English sceapen, gescapen, past participle of scieppan; akin to Old High German skepfen to ~  Date: before 12th century  transitive verb  1. form, create; especially to give a particular form or ~ to  2. obsolete ordain, decree  3. to adapt in ~ so as to fit neatly and closely a dress ~d to her figure  4.  a. devise, plan ~ a policy  b. to embody in definite form shaping a folktale into an epic  5.  a. to make fit for (as a particular use or purpose) ; adapt ~ the questions to fit the answers  b. to determine or direct the course or character of events that ~d history  c. to modify (behavior) by rewarding changes that tend toward a desired response  intransitive verb  1. to come to pass ; happen it's shaping up that I am known now for my husbands — Leslie Marmon Silko  2. to take on or approach a mature or definite form — often used with up the summer is shaping up to be one of the hottest on record  • ~r noun  II. noun  Date: before 12th century  1.  a. the visible makeup characteristic of a particular item or kind of item a cake in the ~ of a Christmas tree  b.  (1) spatial form or contour the clouds kept changing ~  (2) a standard or universally recognized spatial form a stain in the ~ of a perfect circle  2. the appearance of the body as distinguished from that of the face ; figure  3.  a. phantom, apparition eerie ~s floating in the mist  b. assumed appearance ; guise a trick-or-treater in the ~ of a pumpkin  4. form of embodiment our plans are taking ~  5. a mode of existence or form of being having identifying features  6. a molded dessert; especially blancmange  7. the condition in which someone or something exists at a particular time the car was in fine ~  • ~d adjective