Phrase guide

lick into shape

verb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • lĭk′ ĭn-to͞o shāp′
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌlɪk ɪn.tuː ˈʃeɪ̯p/
  • Canada, General-American: /ˌlɪk ɪn.tu ˈʃeɪ̯p/
  • Australian: /ˌlɪk ɪn.tʉː ˈʃæɪ̯p/
  • AuE Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • New-Zealand: /ˌlək ən.tʉː ˈʃæɪ̯p/
  • Scotland: /ˌlɪk ɪn.tʉ ˈʃep/
  • India: /ˌlɪk ɪn.ʈuː ˈʃeːp/

1

verb

Meaning 1

To exert considerable effort to change (someone or something) into a desired state.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: beat into shape, get into shape, knock into shape, whip into shape

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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, [...].”

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: laittaa kuntoon — to exert considerable effort to change (someone or something) into a desired state