take shape

Idioms  

1. Also, shape up. Turn out, develop, acquire a distinctive form, as in Her reelection campaign is already taking shape, two years before the election, or Can you tell us how the book is shaping up? The first term dates from the mid-1700s and the variant, originally put as shape out, from about 1600.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

take shape

Where much democracy research documents what people say they believe, ethnography examines how and why political worldviews take shape within the full context of daily experiences, relationships, and social environments.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

It was really starting to take shape in his brain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

Meanwhile the international military force intended to secure the enclave has yet to take shape, and a technocratic committee that was supposed to oversee daily governance has yet to enter Gaza.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026

However, the 50-day moving average has flattened and is no longer declining, while a potential inverse head-and-shoulders pattern is starting to take shape.

From Barron's ● May 6, 2026

An important consequence follows from this argument: we should not really expect to find reliable science before scientific communities began to take shape in the 1640s.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• brew
• come on
• dominate
• emerge
• hover
• mount
• overshadow
• portend
• soar
• stand out
• threaten