SHAPING

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does shaping mean? 

• SHAPING (noun)
  The noun SHAPING has 2 senses:

1. any process serving to define the shape of something

2. the act of fabricating something in a particular shape

  Familiarity information: SHAPING used as a noun is rare.

• SHAPING (adjective)
  The adjective SHAPING has 1 sense:

1. forming or capable of forming or molding or fashioning

  Familiarity information: SHAPING used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHAPING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any process serving to define the shape of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

defining; shaping

Hypernyms ("shaping" is a kind of...):

physical process; process (a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states)

Derivation:

shape (shape or influence; give direction to)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of fabricating something in a particular shape

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

formation; shaping

Hypernyms ("shaping" is a kind of...):

fabrication; manufacture; manufacturing (the act of making something (a product) from raw materials)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shaping"):

filing (the act of using a file (as in shaping or smoothing an object))

forging (shaping metal by heating and hammering)

metalwork; metalworking (the activity of making things out of metal in a skillful manner)

granulation (the act of forming something into granules or grains)

grooving; rifling (the cutting of spiral grooves on the inside of the barrel of a firearm)

turning (the activity of shaping something on a lathe)

Derivation:

shape (make something, usually for a specific function)

• SHAPING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Forming or capable of forming or molding or fashioning

Synonyms:

formative; plastic; shaping

Context example:

the plastic forces of nature

Similar:

constructive (constructing or tending to construct or improve or promote development)

 Context examples 

He shook his head, his stern mouth shaping the strangest, twisted smile.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Although it has long been known that aerosols could play an important role in shaping regional weather patterns, ultrafine particles were thought to be too small to affect the formation of clouds.

(Tiny pollutants intensify storms in the Amazon, SciDev.Net)

But what they learn about the forces driving Jupiter's auroras and shaping its space weather environment also has practical implications in our own planetary backyard.

(Jupiter's Auroras Present a Powerful Mystery, NASA)

The clean edges and filamentary structures of the tail suggest that magnetic fields play a prominent role in shaping it.

(Hubble Sees Plunging Galaxy Losing Its Gas, NASA)

Advocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and education are also key nursing roles.

(Nursing, NCI Thesaurus)

Go for the gold, dear Pisces, as your destiny seems to be shaping up before your eyes.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

He was clay in her hands immediately, as passionately desirous of being moulded by her as she was desirous of shaping him into the image of her ideal of man.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

My work, which had appeared so vague, so hopelessly diffuse, condensed itself as he proceeded, and assumed a definite form under his shaping hand.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Grafting is done by cutting a plant off near the root, shaping its stalk into a wedge and fitting this into a matching groove on the severed stem of another plant.

(Grafting helps pepper plants deal with drought, SciDev.Net)

Sir Thomas had been amusing himself with shaping a very complete outline of the business; and as soon as she would listen quietly, could read his list of the families to be invited, from whom he calculated, with all necessary allowance for the shortness of the notice, to collect young people enough to form twelve or fourteen couple: and could detail the considerations which had induced him to fix on the 22nd as the most eligible day.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)