shape-up
noun
an act or instance of shaping up.
shape-up
American
[sheyp-uhp]
/ ˈʃeɪpˌʌp /
Or
shapeup
noun
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an act or instance of shaping up.
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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.
shape up
British
verb
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informal to proceed or develop satisfactorily
-
informal to develop a definite or proper form
noun
shape up
Idioms
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Turn out, develop; see take shape .
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Improve so as to meet a standard, as in The coach told the team that they'd better shape up or they'd be at the bottom of the league . This usage was first recorded in 1938.
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shape up or ship out Behave yourself or be forced to leave, as in The new supervisor told Tom he'd have to shape up or ship out . This expression originated in the 1940s, during World War II, as a threat that if one didn't behave in an appropriate military manner one would be sent overseas to a combat zone. After the war it was transferred to other situations calling for improved performance.
Etymology
Origin of shape-up
First recorded in 1940–45; noun use of verb phrase shape up
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Some people call it futuristic - but how does the home of the delayed 2020 Paralympics shape-up for disabled people?
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2021
One of the substantial victories of the 1934 Bay Area strike was the replacement of the shape-up system—the informal hustle for day labor work—with a union-operated hiring hall that worked to racially integrate the workforce.
From Salon ● Apr. 11, 2019
Gonzalez explained he usually gets a haircut on Thursday or Friday and a shape-up on Monday, but he recently went a week without anything.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 27, 2018
Using the refrain “mudanzas,” or movers, they hawk their services from the cabs of their trucks or windows of their vans — a shape-up on wheels.
From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2012
I knew that I could get away with not having a fresh shape-up easier than they could get away with not chopping that Sunday dinner off the tops of their heads.
From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds
Investors are set to hear from bank executives in the coming weeks at several industry conferences, and they may offer guidance on how they expect the IPO market to shape up this year.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
It may also shape up as a major test as to whether rich households move away in the face of tax hikes.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 27, 2026
When Robert Duvall was floundering around in college, his father, a career Navy man who retired with the rank of rear admiral, told him to shape up — and start acting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026
Cut out those individual errors, shape up without the ball, see out Arundell's sin-bin period and turn the screw in the scrum and there was a narrow, theoretical route back into the game.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026
Like every facet of my life would finally shape up and become clear.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
