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

In the care of one another, our archive begins to take shape.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Eastern will examine the geopolitical implications of these latest developments in the economic campaign against Iran, how enforcement might take shape and the risk and compliance challenges for companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Year on year, a new society starts to take shape.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

If it were possible to watch the earliest cells take shape, the scene may have involved two distinct forms of primitive cellular life.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

Then the wheels in my head began to turn and my ridiculous plan began to take shape.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Related Words

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