form
 form (fôrm)n.
1.
a. The shape and structure of an object.
b. The body or outward appearance of a person or an animal considered separately from the face or head; figure.
2.
a. The essence of something.
b. The mode in which a thing exists, acts, or manifests itself; kind:
a form of animal life; a form of blackmail.
3.
a. Procedure as determined or governed by regulation or custom.
b. A fixed order of words or procedures, as for use in a ceremony; a formula.
4. A document with blanks for the insertion of details or information:
insurance forms.
5.
a. Manners or conduct as governed by etiquette, decorum, or custom.
b. Behavior according to a fixed or accepted standard:
Tardiness is considered bad form.
c. Performance considered with regard to acknowledged criteria:
a good jump shooter having an unusual form.
6.
a. Proven ability to perform:
a musician at the top of her form.
b. Fitness, as of an athlete or animal, with regard to health or training.
c. The past performance of a racehorse.
d. A racing form.
7.
a. Method of arrangement or manner of coordinating elements in literary or musical composition or in organized discourse:
presented my ideas in outline form; a treatise in the form of a dialogue.
b. A particular type or example of such arrangement:
The essay is a literary form.
c. The design, structure, or pattern of a work of art:
symphonic form.
8.
a. A mold for the setting of concrete.
b. A model of the human figure or part of it used for displaying clothes.
c. A proportioned model that may be adjusted for fitting clothes.
9. A grade in a British secondary school or in some American private schools:
the sixth form.
10.
a. A linguistic form.
b. The external aspect of words with regard to their inflections, pronunciation, or spelling.
11.
a. Chiefly British. A long seat; a bench.
b. The resting place of a hare.
12. Botany. A subdivision of a variety usually differing in one trivial characteristic, such as flower color.v. formed, form·ing, formsv. tr.
1.
a. To give form to; shape:
form clay into figures.
b. To develop in the mind; conceive:
form an opinion.
2.
a. To shape or mold (dough, for example) into a particular form.
b. To arrange oneself in:
Holding out his arms, the cheerleader formed a T. The acrobats formed a pyramid.
c. To organize or arrange:
The environmentalists formed their own party.
d. To fashion, train, or develop by instruction or precept:
form a child's mind.
3. To come to have; develop or acquire:
form a habit.
4. To constitute or compose a usually basic element, part, or characteristic of.
5.
a. To produce (a tense, for example) by inflection:
form the pluperfect.
b. To make (a word) by derivation or composition.
6. To put in order; arrange.v. intr.
1. To become formed or shaped.
2. To come into being by taking form; arise.
3. To assume a specified form, shape, or pattern. [Middle English forme, from Latin fōrma.] form'a·bilʹi·ty n.formʹa·ble adj.
Synonyms: form, figure, shape, configuration, contour, profile
These nouns refer to the external outline of a thing. Form is the outline and structure of a thing as opposed to its substance: a brooch in the form of a lovers' knot. Figure refers usually to form as established by bounding or enclosing lines: The cube is a solid geometric figure. Shape implies three-dimensional definition that indicates both outline and bulk or mass: “He faced her, a hooded and cloaked shape” (Joseph Conrad). Configuration stresses the pattern formed by the arrangement of parts within an outline: The map shows the configuration of North America, with its mountains, rivers, and plains. Contour refers especially to the outline of a three-dimensional figure: I traced the contour of the bow with my finger. Profile denotes the outline of something viewed against a background and especially the outline of the human face in side view: The police took a photograph of the mugger's profile.
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