misshape

English

Etymology

From mis- +‎ shape.

Pronunciation

(noun) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪsʃeɪp/
Audio (Berkshire) (file)
(verb) IPA^(key): /mɪsˈʃeɪp/
Audio (Berkshire) (file)

Noun

misshape (plural misshapes)

(obsolete) A misshapen person; a misshapen body. [14th–17th c.]
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:
  The one of them, that elder did appeare,
  With her dull eyes did seeme to looke askew,
  That her mis-shape much helpt [...].
A misshapen object; now especially, a broken item (especially food) sold individually at a cheaper price. [from 19th c.]
- 1995, Jarvis Cocker et al., "Mis-Shapes":
  Mis-shapes, mistakes, misfits
  Raised on a diet of broken biscuits.

Verb

misshape (third-person singular simple present misshapes, present participle misshaping, simple past misshaped, past participle misshaped or (obsolete or poetic) misshapen)

To shape badly or incorrectly. [from 15th c.]
- 1989, John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany, New York: Ballantine Books, 1990, Chapter 9, p. 601,
  Major Rawls drove us to our motel […] where a swimming pool with underwater lights had the disturbing effect of substantially enlarging and misshaping the swimmers.

Derived terms

misshaper

Related terms

misshapen

Anagrams

emphasis