lick into shape
To exert considerable effort to change into a desired stateTo exert considerable effort to change (someone or something) into a desired state.
Meaning
1 senses(idiomatic)To exert considerable effort to change (someone or something) into a desired state.
Origin
From the medieval notion that bear cubs were born shapeless, and that the mother would licFrom the medieval notion that bear cubs were born shapeless, and that the mother would lick them into the shape of a bear; see, for example, The Anatomy of Melancholy (2nd edition, 1624) by Robert Burton (spelling modernized): “I should have revised, corrected, and amended this Tract; but I had not (as I say) that happy leisure, no Amanuenses’ assistance, and was therefore enforced, as a Bear doth her whelps, to bring forth this confused lump, and had not time to lick it into form, as she doth her young ones, but even so to publish it, as it was first written, […].”
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
licks into shape, licking into shape, licked into shape, licked into shapeirregular
| Base form | lick into shape · to lick into shape |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | licks into shape |
| Present participle | licking into shape |
| Past simple | licked into shape |
| Past participle | licked into shape |
Tenses
lick into shape · licked into shape · will lick into shape · have licked into shapePoint at a form to see it in a sentence.Tap a form to see it in a sentence.
Synonyms
4 synonymsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.