Verb

(en verb)

(intransitive, of persons, often followed by to) To act in accordance with expectations; to behave in the manner of others, especially as a result of social pressure.

* 1822 , , Peveril of the Peak , ch. 1:

[H]e had a dispensation for conforming in outward observances to the Protestant faith.

* 1839 , , The Voyage of the Beagle , ch. 4:

[B]y conforming to the dress and habits of the Gauchos, he has obtained an unbounded popularity in the country.

To be in accordance with a set of specifications or regulations, or with a policy or guideline.

* 1919 , , The Camp Fire Girls Do Their Bit , ch. 11:

In height and breadth it conformed to the prescribed measurements laid down by the rules of the contest.

* 2006 22 Dec., " Judge Cuts Amount of Vioxx Award ," New York Times (retrieved 7 June 2011):

A judge in a Texas widow’s lawsuit over the Merck drug Vioxx reduced a $32 million jury award to about $7.75 million on Thursday so that it conformed to state law.

To make similar in form or nature; to make suitable for a purpose; to adapt.

* , "Vanbrugh's House" in The Poems of Jonathan Swift (1910 edition):

There is a worm by Phoebus bred,

By leaves of mulberry is fed,

Which unprovided where to dwell,

Conforms itself to weave a cell.

* 1836 , , Nature , ch. 6:

The sensual man conforms' thoughts to things; the poet ' conforms things to his thoughts.

Verb

(en verb)

To put into a new and improved form or condition; to restore to a former good state, or bring from bad to good; to change from worse to better; to amend; to correct.

to reform''' a profligate man; to '''reform corrupt manners or morals

* Jonathan Swift

The example alone of a vicious prince will corrupt an age; but that of a good one will not reform it.

To return to a good state; to amend or correct one's own character or habits; as, a person of settled habits of vice will seldom reform.

(intransitive) To form again or in a new configuration.

This product contains reformed meat.

The regiment reformed after surviving the first attack.

The pop group reformed for one final tour.

* {{quote-news

, year=2012 , date=August 21 , author=Jason Heller , title=The Darkness: Hot Cakes (Music Review) , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=Since first tossing its cartoonish, good-time cock-rock to the masses in the early ’00s, The Darkness has always fallen back on this defense: The band is a joke, but hey, it’s a good joke. With Hot Cakes —the group’s third album, and first since reforming last year—the laughter has died. In its place is the sad wheeze of the last surviving party balloon slowly, listlessly deflating.}}