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What is the difference between appearance and shape?

appearance | shape |

As nouns the difference between appearance and shape

is that appearance is the act of appearing or coming into sight; the act of becoming visible to the eye while shape is the status or condition of something.

As a verb shape is

to give something a shape and definition.

appearance

English

Alternative forms

* appearaunce

Noun

(en noun)
  • The act of appearing or coming into sight; the act of becoming visible to the eye.
  • A thing seen; a phenomenon; an apparition.
  • Personal presence; look; aspect; mien.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
    • And now am come to see . . . It thy appearance answer loud report.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
    • , chapter=5, title= A Cuckoo in the Nest , passage=The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.
  • Apparent likeness; external show; how something appears to others.
  • * Bible, (w) ix. 15
    • There was upon the tabernacle, as it were, the appearance of fire.
  • * Bible, 1 (w) xvi. 7
    • For man looketh on the outward appearance .
  • * Bible, (w) vii. 24
    • Judge not according to the appearance .
  • The act of appearing in a particular place, or in society, a company, or any proceedings; a coming before the public in a particular character.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
    • Will he now retire, After appearance , and again prolong Our expectation?
  • (legal) The coming into court of either of the parties; the being present in court; the coming into court of a party summoned in an action, either by himself or by his attorney, expressed by a formal entry by the proper officer to that effect; the act or proceeding by which a party proceeded against places himself before the court, and submits to its jurisdiction.
  • (medical) Chiefly used by nurses: the act of defecation by a patient.

    • Synonyms

    * (act of coming into sight) arrival, manifestation, * (a thing seen) spectacle, apparition, phenomenon, presence * (aspect of a person) aspect, air, figure, look, manner, mien * (outward show) semblance, show, pretense, or facade * (act of appearing in public) debut

    Derived terms

    () * court appearance * disappearance * keep up appearances * nonappearance * plate appearance * put in an appearance * reappearance * save appearances

    References

    *

    Statistics

    *

    shape

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The status or condition of something
    • The used bookshop wouldn't offer much due to the poor shape of the book.
  • Condition of personal health, especially muscular health.
    • The vet checked to see what kind of shape the animal was in.
    We exercise to keep in good physical shape .
  • The appearance of something, especially its outline.
    • He cut a square shape out of the cake.
  • A figure with unspecified appearance; especially a geometric figure.
    • What shape shall we use for the cookies? Stars, circles, or diamonds?
  • Form; formation.
  • * 2006 , Berdj Kenadjian, Martin Zakarian, From Darkness to Light :
    • What if God's plans and actions do mold the shape of human events?
  • (iron manufacture) A rolled or hammered piece, such as a bar, beam, angle iron, etc., having a cross section different from merchant bar.
  • (iron manufacture) A piece which has been roughly forged nearly to the form it will receive when completely forged or fitted.
  • A mould for making jelly, blancmange etc., or a piece of such food formed moulded into a particular shape.
  • *1918 , (Rebecca West), The Return of the Soldier , Virago 2014, p. 74:
  • *:‘And if I'm late for supper there's a dish of macaroni cheese you must put in the oven and a tin of tomatoes to eat with it. And there's a little rhubarb and shape .’

    • Hyponyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * contest shape * * in no shape to * * in shape * out of shape * shapeless * shapely * shapesmith * shape-shifter * shape-shifting * shipshape * take shape * the shape of things to come * whip into shape

    See also

    *

    Verb

  • To give something a shape and definition.
  • * 1932 , The American Scholar , page 227, United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa
    • The professor never pretended to the academic prerogative of forcing his students into his own channels of reasoning; he entered into and helped shape the discussion but above all he made his men learn to think for themselves and rely upon their own intellectual judgments.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Revenge of the nerds , passage=Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.}}
  • To form or manipulate something into a certain shape.
  • * Prior
    • Grace shaped her limbs, and beauty decked her face.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2010, date=December 29, author=Mark Vesty, work=BBC
    • , title= Wigan 2-2 Arsenal , passage=Bendtner's goal-bound shot was well saved by goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi but fell to Arsahvin on the edge of the area and the Russian swivelled, shaped his body and angled a sumptuous volley into the corner. }}
  • (of a country, person, etc) To give influence to.
  • To suit; to be adjusted or conformable.
    • (Shakespeare)
  • (obsolete) To imagine; to conceive.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Oft my jealousy / Shapes faults that are not.

    Synonyms

    * (give shape) form, mold

    Derived terms

    * beshape * foreshape * forshape * misshape * overshape * shape up

    Anagrams

    * * * 1000 English basic words