Shape
Source : Wright, Joseph English Dialect Dictionary web : https://eddonline4-proj.uibk.ac.at/edd/main.html
SHAPE, v. and sb. Sc. Irel. Nhb. Dur. Cum. Yks. Lan. Chs. Der. Not. Lin. Rut. Lei. War. Nrf. Wil. Dev. Cor. Also written shaep Sc.; and in forms shaape n.Yks.4 Cor.1 Cor.2 shap Sc. (Jam. Suppl.) Nhb.1 Dur.1 Cum.1 Cum.3 Cum.4 n.Yks.2 n.Yks.4 ne.Yks.1 e.Yks.1 w.Yks.1 Lan.1 ne.Lan.1 s.Lan.1 Wil.1; sheap Cum.4; sheapp Cum.1; shep Nhb.1 Cum.1 Cum.4 Rut.1; preterite shoop Abd. [ʃēp, ʃeəp, ʃap.] 1. v. To make, devise; to cut out. Cf. frame. Sh.I. Doo can shaep a lee as weel as ony ane at iver wis, Sh. News (Oct. 1, 1898). Slk. She sat shaping and sewing, Hogg Tales (1838) 260, ed. 1866. Cum. A cwoat or a sack yen may shep them, But aw cannot gi'e them God's greace, Anderson Ballads (1805) 93. n.Yks. Shap it oot (T.S.). e.Yks.1 ‘Yondher's a man shapt oot,’ said a guide lad at Knaresborough, pointing to a figure of St. Robert sculptured on the face of a rock. Lan. He'd ha' shapped ye summat more seemly, Francis Daughter of Soil (1895) 135. Hence (1) Shapings, sb. pl. shreds, cuttings of cloth; (2) Shapper, sb. a cutter-out of apparel; a dressmaker; (3) Shapping-gear, sb., see below; (4) Shapster, sb., see (2). (1) Sc. (Jam.); A farmer's wife engaged a dressmaker to sew for her on the ‘day’ system. She said there was thus a great ‘savin' o' claith’ and that she got ‘a' the shapin's,’ Jokes, 1st S. (1889) 68. Gall. I'll cut thy buckram soul to shapins! Nicholson Poet. Wks. (1814) 91, ed. 1897. N.Cy.1 Tailors' shapings. Nhb.1, Cum. (M.P.) (2) n.Yks.2 (3) Garments of all sorts. And apparently, the implements with which they are formed, n.Yks.2 (4) n.Yks. (T.S.), n.Yks.2
To resemble, look like. Cum.4 3. To set oneself in position; also with out. Don. ‘I'll fight you,’ says Billy, shaping out and winding the bit of stick three times over his head, MacManus Chim. Corners (1899)
Nhb.1, w.Yks. (J.W.)
To tell a tale. [Not known to our correspondents.] Nhb. (Hall.) 5. To do, act; to be employed; also used with at. w.Yks. ‘An what are ta shappin at nah?’ said Dolly, Hartley Clock Alm. (1877) 38; w.Yks.1 Lan. Thou shaps as if thou'rt fair off it, Fothergill Healey (1884) xxiv. ne.Lan.1
To succeed, get on; to show promise; to tend; to fit, be adapted. Sc. It shapes weel to grow a guid beast. The naig'll shap better for the cart nor the plow (Jam. Suppl.). Sh.I. Jimp apo' da mare agen, an' lat's see foo doo shapes, Sh. News (Aug. 13, 1898). e.Sc. It was shaping towards a good portrait, Strain Elmslie's Drag-net (1900) 52. Per. Are ony o' yir laddies shapin' weel Ian Maclaren Brier Bush (1895) 15. Nhb.1 He's a clivver lad; he shapes weel. Cum.1 How does he shap? Cum.4 n.Yks.4 He shaps weel ti deea't, diz t'lad. ne.Yks.1, w.Yks. (J.W.) Lan.1 He shaps weel at any rate. s.Lan.1, Chs.1 Chs.3, Not. (J.H.B.) War.3 That boy shapes well at cricket. Dev. ‘'Ow did the blood colt jump, then?’ ‘I think he'll shape fairly,’ Ford Larramys (1897) xviii.
To go; to set out; to be active; also used fig. Lnk. If we dinna shape awa' tae oor beds, they'll sune be a' ower here thegither, Wardrop J. Mathison (1881) 32. w.Yks. Nah then, we mun shape our way home (J.T.F.). Lan. Neaw then, Emma, be shappin', Dottie Rambles (1898) 3; Lan.1 ne.Lan.1 ‘Shap it,’ be quick. Chs.3
Obs. With away or off: to drive away; to put off. Sc. Ane cursit fox lay hid in rox, Nane might him shape away, Spec. Godly Sangs, 6 (Jam.). Bwk. Kimmergheme got the estate of Aiton, and the Earle of Home... got the estate of Home, and I was shaped off, and only putt in the Earle of Annandale's back band to the executors, Hume Domestic Details (1697-1707) 51, ed.
To attempt, intend, contrive, manage, bring about. Abd. At last he shoop himsel again to stand Wi' help o' a rough kent in till his hand, Ross Helenore (1768) 46, ed. 1812. Gall. I should shape to bring Maisie to see my hiding-place, Crockett Moss-Hags (1895) 238. ne.Yks.1 w.Yks. Aw'll tell the ha' we can shapit, Hartley Blackpool (1883) 56. Lan. Un heaw art tha gooin to shap it? Wood Hum. Sketches 4; Lan.1, m.Lan.1 s.Lan.1 They'n nowt comin'-in, aw know no' how they shap'n for t'live. Wil.1 I'll shap to do't.
To put oneself into a position to start; to set about; to prepare; to begin in a workmanlike manner. Sc. He shaps to his work like a man (Jam. Suppl.). Nhb.1, Dur.1, Cum.1 Cum.4 w.Yks. Sheffield Indep. (1874); w.Yks.2 w.Yks.4 Lan. Wi' nowt to shape on, but a couple o' cheers, Lake Longleat (1870) xviii. ne.Lan.1 Chs.1 To ‘shape for gooin’ means to prepare to go; Chs.2 Chs.3, nw.Der.1
To proceed with something awkwardly. nw.Der.1
To finish. Lan.1 ‘Theer, thae's shap't that at last, as how!’ said one of these to his friend, who had just finished [his basin of soup], and stood wiping his mouth complacently. ‘Shap't that,’ replied the other, ‘ay, lad, aw can do a ticket and a hafe (three pints of soup) every mornin',’ Waugh Cotton Famine (1867) 61.
sb. An attitude; a set posture or position. Sh.I. I wis dat stiff wi' laughin' ta see da shapes 'at Geordie wis pittin' himsel' intil skornin' Aandrew, Sh. News (May 7, 1898). Cai. He got into shape to defend himself, Horne Countryside (1896) 64. Nhb.1 ‘Aa's tired o' sittin i' this shape se lang’ (said by a Tyne keelman whose portrait was being painted).
A portrait; a picture. w.Yks. Summot t'post hed browt Unto hur cottage door, Ther' shap o't Queen stuck on o't neuk, Henton Ould Malley's Voluntine (1870) l. 5. Lan. Wheer thir's th' shap ov o lock on th' kennel wi o bwoat gooin thru, Scholes Tim Gamwattle (1857) 56. Dev. Well 'er 'adn't been up 'bove dree weeks or a month, bevore they'd a got his shapes a drade out 'pon a cotton pocket-'an'ky'cher, Pasmore Stories (1893) 5; Dev.1
An article. Sh.I. ‘Ye'll hae a raasir?’ ‘Yea, I hae da shape, bit he's no been apo' my face sin Sibbie wis chrisn'd, an' dat wisna yesterday!’ Sh. News (Sept. 11, 1897).
The nose. Cum.3 An' a shap standin' ūp like a tee-tak-up-o, 160; Cum.4
The private parts of a female. Cum.4 The sow was bleeding both at the head and shoulders and the shape, C. Patr. (Jan. 5, 1894) 3, col. 3. w.Yks. Doctor, there's summat t'matter wi me shape (B.K.); A woman who had been ill-treated by her husband said to the medical man, ‘He's kicked me on my shape’ (S.J.C.). Chs.1 Chs.3, nw.Der.1 Lin. In common use, esp. in the case of infants and children (Hall.). Lei. A cow's shape (K.). [For she wyl not holde to it, excepte she be kene of horsyng, and that shal ye knowe by her shap, Fitzherbert Husb. (1534) 59.]
pl. Very light grain; corn without the kernel; wasted kernels of corn. n.Cy. (Hall.), Cum.1 Cum.4, w.Yks.1, ne.Lan.1 Rut.1 The ear is a'most all sheps. Nrf. Morton Cyclo. Agric. (1863).
A mess; a dirty state; disorder, confusion; also used fig. Dev. (Hall.) Cor. When we tuk en to church, tho', there was a pretty shape, ‘Q.’ Three Ships (1890) iv; Cor.1 What a shape you've got here. What a shapes you are; Cor.2 Here's a putty shaape; Cor.3
Conduct, mood, manner. Ayr. Such was the unfeelin' shape o' the baker and his wife that the lassock was to gang hame to her folks, Hunter Studies (1870) 157; What did it come eawt o that shap for then? Waugh Tufts (ed. Milner) I. 54.
In pl. form: an eccentric person in dress and manners. Dev.3 You don't cal her a lady, dü 'ee? Why, her's nort but a proper old shapes, her idden.
Phr. (1) all makes and shapes, all kinds and modes; cf. make, sb.1; (2) neither shape nor make, neither form nor fashion; (3) to make a shape at, to attempt; to make preparation for; to aim at; (4) to set shape of onesen, to sign one's name. (1) n.Yks.2 (2) n.Yks. There's nowther shap nor mack in't (T.S.). (3) Sh.I. ‘I ax'd him... if he wis gaein, an' a' da answer 'at I got wis: ‘Sees doo me makkin ony shape at hit?’ Sh. News (Dec. 14, 1901). Cai.1 Nhb. I made a kind o' shape at him wi' the whup, Graham Red Scaur (1896) 246. (4) w.Yks. (E.G.) [17. Cp. OE. sceap, a private part [B.T.).]
