shaper
Americannoun
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a person or thing that shapes.
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a machine tool for forming flat surfaces, consisting of a frame, usually horizontal, on which the work is held while a cutting tool moves along it with a reciprocating motion.
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(in woodworking) a stationary power tool driving a vertical spindle to which cutters are locked, used in joinery and for forming decorative edges.
Etymology
Origin of shaper
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at shape, -er 1
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.
Surfboard shaper Timmy Patterson told the Orange County Register he survived a near-death experience after being caught inside a set of up to 20-foot waves at a remote break off Dana Point.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026
The researchers had previously built a precise fiber shaper, a device that allows careful control of laser light traveling through a multimode optical fiber, which is capable of carrying high levels of power.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 28, 2026
Noguchi was both an object maker and an early environmental artist, a shaper of spaces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
The report identifies “oscillating inflation” as a key shaper of 2026 trends, its different components contributing to this “bifurcation” in consumer fortunes where the wealthier and their spending are immune to its pressure.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 10, 2025
These latter were things that solitary gill-netters could appreciate and offset their distrust of a word shaper who sat behind a typewriter all day.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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.
