shape up

See also: shapeup

English

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Verb

shape up (third-person singular simple present shapes up, present participle shaping up, simple past and past participle shaped up)

(intransitive, idiomatic) To improve; to correct one's bad habits or behavior.
He'd better shape up soon, or he'll fail the class.
(intransitive, idiomatic) To take shape; to transform into or become.
The fog has vanished and it's shaping up to be a beautiful day.
- 1983, The Right Stuff, 02:04:00
  -- "Pretty good. A full refrigerator! I can see this afternoon is shaping up just great."
- 2017 July 30, Ali Barthwell, “Ice and fire finally meet in a front-loaded episode of Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club‎:
  Even though this episode felt packed to the brim and sometimes unwieldly, the strongest moments were spent with Cersei, Sansa, and Daenerys: three daughters who were never supposed to rule, wading through their pain and suffering to shape The Seven Kingdoms. A lot has been said and written about the sons in this story who were never meant to rule (Tyrion, Jon, even Sam) but this season is shaping up to be an examination of these women.

Synonyms

(correct one's bad habits or behavior): improve, pull one's finger out, pull one's socks up
(transform into): become, turn into, turn out to be

Derived terms

shape up or ship out

Translations

to improve; correct one's bad habits

German: sich entwickeln (de)
Italian: migliorarsi
Russian: подтяну́ться (ru) n or pf (podtjanútʹsja)

Swedish: rycka upp sig, komma i form
Turkish: biçimlenmek (tr), gelişmek (tr), (affair) iyi gitmek, (person) iyi yolda olmak

transform into

Dutch: de vorm aannemen
Italian: trasformarsi (it)

Swedish: forma sig

Anagrams

heaps up, upheaps