Verb

(en verb)

To modify.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= A new prescription , passage=As the world's drug habit shows, governments are failing in their quest to monitor every London window-box and Andean hillside for banned plants. But even that Sisyphean task looks easy next to the fight against synthetic drugs. No sooner has a drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one.}}

To improve or rectify.

* {{quote-magazine, title=Towards the end of poverty

, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=11, magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.}}

To settle an insurance claim.

To change to fit circumstances.

Verb

To transform; alter.

*2002 , Orson Scott Card, Rebekah :

"Why not?" she asked. Trying not to overshape the words. Trying not to say them too fast. Trying not to show how indignant she was at the idea of being left out.

To adjust; reshape.

*2009 , Bob Smiley, Follow the Roar :

This has become the routine this week: start off with a disaster, make some adjustment, and carry on. Yesterday in the media room he explained that because his swing was so off, he had intentionally been “overshaping ” shots during the round.

To shape, form, or manipulate excessively.

*2008 , Eddie Paul, Sheet Metal Fabrication: Techniques and Tips for Beginners and Pros :

Keep checking your progress against the form Wheel lightly and check often so you don't overshape an area.