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.
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
King ended his long-running CNN program in 2010 but returned to television again and again as a moderator, opinion shaper and, occasionally, pitchman.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2021
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.
