shape up
See also: shapeup
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Verb
[edit]shape up (third-person singular simple present shapes up, present participle shaping up, simple past and past participle shaped up)
- (intransitive, idiomatic) To improve; to correct one's bad habits or behavior.
- He'd better shape up soon, or he'll fail the class.
- 1978, John Farrar (lyrics and music), “You're the One That I Want”, performed by Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta:
- You better shape up
'Cause I need a man
And my heart is set on you
- (intransitive, idiomatic) To take shape; to transform into or become.
- The fog has vanished and it's shaping up to be a beautiful day.
- 1983, 02:04:00 from the start, in The Right Stuff:
- Pretty good. A full refrigerator! I can see this afternoon is shaping up just great.
- 2017 July 30, Ali Barthwell, “Ice and fire finally meet in a front-loaded episode of Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club[1]:
- Even though this episode felt packed to the brim and sometimes unwieldly, the strongest moments were spent with Cersei, Sansa, and Daenerys: three daughters who were never supposed to rule, wading through their pain and suffering to shape The Seven Kingdoms. A lot has been said and written about the sons in this story who were never meant to rule (Tyrion, Jon, even Sam) but this season is shaping up to be an examination of these women.
- (intransitive, slang) To gesture or posture threateningly; to approach as if to fight; to pose to intimidate.
- Synonym: bridge up
Synonyms
[edit]- (correct one's bad habits or behavior): improve, pull one's finger out, pull one's socks up
- (transform into): become, turn into, turn out to be
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]to improve; correct one's bad habits
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transform into
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