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SHAPE

SHAPE

1 8.1
Main military headquarters for NATO in Europe that advises on military plans
  • proper noun
  • Jargon
: SHAPE
  • Lattin, Don. Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today. San Francisco: Harper, 2004. Print.

Examples

  • We peer over the shoulder of the Shape, standing across the street.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • In the back of the van, we can see the Shape's white mask.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Behind the altar, the Shape stands in its cell.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The position is strongly implied in Michaels's The Shape of the Signifier and more explicitly outlined in "Going Boom" and "Neoliberal Aesthetics."

    Academic text (2016)
  • The article in SHAPE magazine inspired many readers to adopt healthier lifestyles.

  • As an influencer, she often appears in ads for SHAPE, promoting fitness and wellness.

  • The latest edition of SHAPE features interviews with top athletes about their training routines.

Synonyms

The NATO headquarters in Europe that gives military advice and leads allied forces

is the official principal military name for that same headquarters

Idioms

137 2.6

A person who is fit and healthy because they exercise regularly

21 8.4

Very upset about a small or unimportant thing

1 8.1

A warning that tells someone to get better or leave

Compounds

4 2.3

A shape with a round base that narrows to a single point at the top like an ice cream cone

4 1.0

A curved form with no sharp corners like a circle

2 3.6

A shape wide at one end and narrow at the other

2 3.2

A rounded form that is wider at the bottom and narrower at the top like a bell

2 3.4

A cone-like shape that is wide at one end and narrow at the other

2 1.9

A form that bends smoothly without sharp angles, like a rainbow

The form of something made by nature, not changed by people

1 3.9

A double curve that looks like the letter S

leaf shape
  • Specialized
1 2.8

The outline of a leaf that helps identify plants

1 2.8

A round flat form like a coin or plate

A shape with sharp corners and straight sides

A thing that has no clear form, like a cloud or stain

wave shape
  • Specialized
1 5.8

The line on a graph that shows how a sound or signal changes over time

shape-up
  • Archaic
1 9.3

A morning way of choosing dock workers who gather and are picked for daily jobs

The way something becomes a different form when it is bent, heated, or pressed

Something that no longer looks like its original form after bending or heat

convex shape
  • Specialized
1 4.3

A shape that curves outward everywhere like a ball or a lens

A shape that curves inward like a bowl or satellite dish

Gaussian shape
  • Specialized
1 6.9

A smooth bell-shaped curve that shows how values spread around the average

polygonal shape
  • Specialized
1 4.2

A flat figure with straight sides like a triangle or square

shape constancy
  • Specialized
7.5

Seeing a solid object like a door as the same form from different angles

Surface Forms

SHAPE main

Morphology

SHAPE = S + H + A + P + E

This sense is an acronym made from initial letters, and the letters themselves do not transparently reveal the institutional meaning to a learner.

Etymology

SHAPE is a short name made from the first letters of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. A helpful way to remember it is to think of a 'shape' as something that gives form: SHAPE is the 'top' office that gives form to NATO's military plans in Europe.