Home UK English in the shape of

Meaning of in the shape of in English:

in the shape of

phrase

  • 1Represented or embodied by.

    ‘retribution arrived in the shape of my irate father’
    • ‘The turning point arrived in the shape of a small, solid female a bit wider than she was tall.’
    • ‘The parting with Victoria was painful, even though an irresistible competitor in the shape of Albert had arrived.’
    • ‘But further reasons did come, in the shape of Pakistan's May-end testing of missiles.’
    • ‘But as a rule these assets exist in the shape of things or rights and not in the shape of money.’
    • ‘In such a case that imaginative faculty, formed as if in the shape of some animal, may appear to the senses of others.’
    • ‘Stealing a march on everybody are the South Africans, in the shape of rugged goat farmer and winemaker Charles Black.’
    • ‘Track five stays with the same musical, in the shape of Times Square from Three Dance Episodes.’
    • ‘Conflict resolution comes in the shape of complete and utter victory for the normally publicity-shy Corkman.’
    • ‘The second half comes in the shape of three local weirdos with a video camera.’
    • ‘The modern world intruded only once, in the shape of a large computer monitor on which we witnessed some images - but that's about all.’
    1. 1.1By way of; in the nature of.
      ‘there had been little or nothing in the shape of academic planning’
      • ‘It is the past in the shape of linguistically transmitted tradition which determines our pre-understanding.’