Word.ws English Dictionary

lick into shape

Syllables: lick in·to shapeUK/ˌlɪk ɪn.tuː ˈʃeɪ̯p/US/ˌlɪk ɪn.tu ˈʃeɪ̯p/

lick into shape verb: to exert considerable effort to change (someone or something) into a desired state.

Verb

lick into shape (third-person singular simple present licks into shape, present participle licking into shape, simple past and past participle licked into shape)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To exert considerable effort to change (someone or something) into a desired state.
    • […] Men did not knovv hovv to mould and frame it [the doctrine of transubstantiation]; but at laſt it vvas licked into ſhape; the vvhole Philoſophy being caſt into ſuch a Mould as agreed vvith it.1699, Gilbert, Bishop of Sarum [i.e., Gilbert Burnet], “Article XXVIII. Of the Lord’s Supper.”, in An Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. […], London: […] R[obert]...
    • "People send us their cubs to lick into shape, and what can we do?" Now the answer to this query concerns parents rather closely: what and how much can the schoolmaster do to make the boy "sit up" who has not been to the manner bred?1897, Charlotte M[aria] Mason, “The Parent as Schoolmaster”, in Parents and Children […], London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. […], →OCLC, page 59

Synonyms of lick into shape

Forms of lick into shape

third-person singular presentlicks into shape
present participlelicking into shape
past participlelicked into shape
pastlicked into shape

Origin of lick into shape

From 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, […].”

Questions about lick into shape

What does lick into shape mean?
Lick into shape means to exert considerable effort to change (someone or something) into a desired state.
What part of speech is lick into shape?
Lick into shape is a verb.
How do you pronounce lick into shape?
Lick into shape is pronounced /ˌlɪk ɪn.tuː ˈʃeɪ̯p/ (UK).
What is the past tense of lick into shape?
The past tense of lick into shape is licked into shape.

Words near lick into shape in the dictionary

  1. Licius
  2. lick
  3. lick and a promise
  4. lick and stick
  5. lick clean
  6. lick into shape
  7. lick job
  8. lick jobs
  9. lick log
  10. lick logs
  11. lick mat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lick into shape (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-lick into shape.ogg.

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