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Synonyms

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.

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 forecast for expansion clubs Portland and Toronto won’t take shape until they finish building their rosters.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

What initially seemed unlikely is now becoming more plausible, with the risk of a stagflationary environment starting to take shape, SimCorp’s Olivier d’Assier said in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

It was uncharacteristically experimental from Wiegman considering this was their first competitive fixture since Euro 2025 and it took time to take shape.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

These observations provide the clearest picture yet of where Uranus's auroras take shape and how its unusually tilted magnetic field affects them.

From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2026

By the late afternoon the big burrow was beginning to take shape.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

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.