shape-up

or shape·up

[sheyp-uhp]

noun

an act or instance of shaping up.
a former method of hiring longshoremen in which the applicants appeared daily at the docks and a union hiring boss chose those who would be given work.

Origin of shape-up

First recorded in 1940–45; noun use of verb phrase shape up

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018