: a system of hiring workers and especially longshoremen by the day or shift by having applicants gather for each day's selection
also
: an instance of such hiring practice
shaped up; shaping up; shapes up
: to improve to a good or acceptable condition or standard of behavior
shaping up at the gym
: to bring to a good or acceptable condition or standard of behavior
Examples of shape-up in a Sentence
Verb
told his son that if he didn't shape up, he'd be grounded for a month
this group of summer interns is shaping up to be one of the best we've ever hired
Recent Examples on the Web
A. Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez, Parents, 7 Dec. 2023
Brian Mazique, Forbes, 15 Dec. 2024
With an intermission halfway through and a — wait for it — budget under $10 million, The Brutalist was the talk of this year’s Venice Film Festival; Corbet scooped up the best director award, and his stars, Adrien Brody and Jones, set the pace for what are shaping up to be fierce acting races.
—Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for shape-up 
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Noun
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut Is there anything more powerful than a fresh shape-up?
—A. Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez, Parents, 7 Dec. 2023
Verb
The 37-year-old is seemingly all but booked to fight Jack Della Maddalena on what’s shaping up to be an epic UFC 312 card in Sydney, Australia.
—Brian Mazique, Forbes, 15 Dec. 2024
With an intermission halfway through and a — wait for it — budget under $10 million, The Brutalist was the talk of this year’s Venice Film Festival; Corbet scooped up the best director award, and his stars, Adrien Brody and Jones, set the pace for what are shaping up to be fierce acting races.
—Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for shape-up
Dictionary Entries Near shape-up
Cite this Entry
“Shape-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shape-up. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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