🗂️ A type or kind 🔷 Shape or structure 📄 A document 👥 To create a group ☁️ To take shape 🦠 A variant group 👐 To make or shape 🏅 Performance level 🌊 To make up 🧠 To establish 🔤 Word shape 👩‍🎓 A student group 🧍 A mannequin 🧱 A mold or frame

to form

598 1.0

To create a group or organization

verb
/fɔrm/

: formar

She's forming a committee to sell war bonds all over the country.
form a group
form an organization
newly formed

Why is it that we form a city state?

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Examples

And in that spirit, we're forming a committee of parents... to take over where the kids left off.

Walkout (2006)
At this stage, they have formed a group, but not yet a true community.

Academic text (2008)
But the key here is to form a plan and to stick to it.
Do you want to form an alliance with me?
In 1833, the Boston Academy of Music was formed with fifteen hundred students.

Academic text (2013)
Both of our traditions, however, form us to live in joyful confidence and certainty of hope.

Academic text (2011)
We form a corporation.

Rat Race (2001)
The students decided to form a study group to help each other with the exam preparation.
After much discussion, the board voted to form a new committee focused on sustainability.
He plans to form a partnership with local businesses to promote tourism in the area.

Synonyms

to create

vsto form

∞ 1.0

To make something new that does not exist yet

is mainly about bringing organizations or groups into existence, not everything

to establish

vsto form

772 4.1

To start something that is meant to last

is general bringing into existence and does not stress duration

to organize

vsto form

381 2.3

Help people form a group to act together for a common goal

focuses on creating things or entities rather than arranging people

to found

vsto form

305 3.9

Create something like a company, school, or town

is broader, meaning to bring many kinds of things into existence

to originate

vsto form

153 3.8

To start or create something

is an act to bring an entity into existence rather than merely starting

to constitute

vsto form

Formal

98 4.8

To officially set up a group, committee, or system

is the general act of bringing something into existence without official steps

Antonyms

to dissolve

43 3.9

To slowly disappear or become less clear

to disband

43 4.3

To stop being a group, for example a band or committee

Idioms

true to form

Informal

9 4.1

Happening or acting in the usual way as before

in rare form

Informal

4 7.6

Doing something much better than usual with extra energy

in no way, shape, or form

3 5.6

It is not true or possible in any way

to return to form

1 4.6

Get back to a previous good level of ability after a time of decline

Phrasal Verbs

to change form

4 3.9

To become a different shape or look

to take form

4 3.5

To begin to develop and become clear in shape or idea

to fill in the form

1 1.0

To complete a paper or online form by writing your personal details

to form bubbles

1 2.9

Make small round pockets of air inside or on a liquid

to form a ruck

Jargon

8.7

In rugby, gather closely over a tackled player to protect and try to get the ball

Compounds

life form

127 2.8

A plant, an animal, or a tiny organism

art form

55 3.2

A particular type of art, like music, painting, or dance

life form

Specialized

37 3.4

The physical shape and parts of a plant or animal

tax form

Formal

12 2.8

An official paper you use to tell the government how much money you earn and owe in tax

application form

8 2.0

A document with questions to fill in when you apply for a job or a course

order form

6 2.0

A printed or online page you fill to ask for goods and services

form letter

5 3.2

A letter sent to many people with the same text

requisition form

Formal

4 4.1

An official paper you use to ask for supplies or services from an organization

claim form

Formal

3 2.9

A document you fill in to ask for money back from an insurance company

good form

3 4.9

Polite behavior people expect in social situations

free-form

2 5.3

A work that does not follow fixed rules or structure

form of address

1 3.4

A way of speaking used when you talk to someone to show their title or relationship

free form

Specialized

1 6.5

A small part of language that can be a whole word

plural form

1 1.6

A change in a word that shows more than one person or thing

citation form

Texting

1 7.5

The basic form of a word that a dictionary lists

verse form

Literature

1 7.0

A type of poem with a set number of lines and rhythm like a sonnet or haiku

bound form

Specialized

9.6

A small part added to a word that cannot stand alone, like -s in cats and -ed in walked

combining form

Specialized

8.1

A small word part from Greek or Latin that appears only inside longer words

baking form

2.6

A pan that holds batter or dough while it bakes

form book

Jargon

6.7

A record of past results and details about competitors that helps people decide bets

form class

Specialized

6.9

A group of words that do the same job in grammar, like a noun or verb

form division

Archaic

9.9

An old artificial group that scientists used to sort plants

form family

Specialized

9.9

A temporary group scientists use for plants or animals when it is not clear how they are related

form genus Rhizoctinia

Specialized

9.9

A group name for fungi seen only in their non-sexual stage, often causing plant disease

form genus

Specialized

9.9

A temporary group for living things, often fossils, whose relations to others are unclear

leaf form

5.6

The shape of a plant leaf that helps identify species

major form class

Specialized

7.7

A main group of words like nouns, verbs, and adjectives that show a word's role in a sentence

imperative form

Specialized

4.4

A verb form used to give a command or request

plural form

Specialized

3.7

One translation used for different numbers, like one or many

telegraph form

Archaic

8.2

A printed form you use to write a telegram

singular form

Specialized

1.8

The form of a word used for one person or thing

sonata form

Specialized

8.6

A musical pattern with three main parts used at the start of many symphonies and sonatas

word form

Specialized

4.1

A written or spoken version of a word showing its grammar and sound

How Official

to incorporate

Formal

47 5.1

to establish

772 4.1

to found

305 3.9

to form

598 1.0

to set up

683 3.4

Surface Forms

form infinitive

formed past

formed past participle

forming present participle

forms third person singular

Etymology

Form comes from the Latin formare 'to shape', and to form a group or club is to create and give it a shape or structure, which is why we use the word for making organizations.