Word.ws English Dictionary

licking into shape

licking into shape is the present participle and gerund of lick into shape.

Meaning of lick into shape

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]...

Questions about licking into shape

What is licking into shape the present participle and gerund of?
Licking into shape is the present participle and gerund of lick into shape.

Words near licking into shape in the dictionary

  1. lickin'
  2. licking
  3. licking clean
  4. Licking County
  5. Licking Creek
  6. licking into shape
  7. licking one's chops
  8. licking one's lips
  9. licking one's wounds
  10. licking out
  11. licking someone's ass

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: licking into shape (page history and authors); 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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Cite this entry: “licking into shape.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/licking_into_shape. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.