to change shape
9
3.6
- phrasal verb
:
cambiar de forma
- During the experiment, we observed how the clay would change shape when heated.
Like, it's just constantly changing, changing shape and size.
- Like, it's just constantly changing, changing shape and size.
- Fluids are things that change shape to fit the container that they are inside.
- They change shape as they evolve, they change shape.
- Now, the fantastic thing today is that this fishbowl keeps changing shape every day.
- Lots of bodies of water, like rivers and ponds, they change shape and size over time.
- And so a fluid, I tend to think of it as something which changes shape to match the container that it is in.
- It feels like I've had this mask on for so long that parts of my face have slightly changed shape.
- Psychologists and scientists are finding that our brains are changing shape to cope with the onslaught of information.
- It gets to a point where the lens starts to the crystals within that lens start to change shape.
- Oh I see, because its its neighbors are taller and have more resistance and so they drag and they change shapes slower.
- But apparently like when we die different parts of our body like it changes shape because like his nose look different and the ear look different.
Examples
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Seeing these fellows change shape is a most amazing thing.
Fiction book (2002) -
The foot began to change shape.
Fiction book (1994) -
But for it to work, for it to do anything, it has to move and change shape, right?
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My God, it changed shape!
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Like, it's just constantly changing, changing shape and size.
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And so may the lessons learned through challenge and change shape our lives.
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I don't know if you can see, but my face is totally changing shape with these products.
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Fluids are things that change shape to fit the container that they are inside.
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Lots of bodies of water, like rivers and ponds, they change shape and size over time.
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But in reality, nothing stops moving at sea—every iceberg is moving, changing shape, and slowly melting.
Blog text (24)
Synonyms
890
2.2
To change into something different or make something change
523
3.4
Change something a lot so it looks or works very differently
493
2.5
To change something slightly or become different
76
5.8
To change smoothly from one form to another
49
3.5
To change the form of something so it looks different
8
7.5
To change something into a different form or material
5
8.2
Change completely in form or appearance
4
3.9
To become a different shape or look
3
9.9
To change something into a very different form, often as if by magic
3
8.6
To change your body or look into another form, often an animal
Change into another form, like a person or animal, by magic
How Changed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'change' (to alter) combined with 'shape' (form/appearance) yields ‘assume a different form,’ which a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer. This follows a common verb + noun composition pattern (cross-linguistically frequent) and shows no idiomatic or metaphorical shift, so it is transparent.
Etymology
Change shape comes from a simple picture: the words change and shape show something bending or moving so its shape looks different, like clouds forming new figures or a shoe softening to fit a foot. So, it means 'to become a different shape or form'.