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shaping

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shaping¹

Rhymes with -eɪpɪŋ

Where it comes from

From Middle English schapynge, equivalent to shape + -ing.

noun shapings

  1. The action of the verb to shape. In contrast to the (to be sure, productive) shapings and constrainings of human identities in the sociotechnical network, here we have an expansion of identity.
  2. A method of positive reinforcement of behaviour patterns in a series of steps in operant conditioning. In general, it's a good idea to know ahead of time what your shaping steps will be and try to get 80% to 100% correct trials during the shaping steps and repeat each step for only 5 to 10 trials in a row.
  3. The action of the metal-cutting machine called a shaper, which uses linear single-point cutting. It is largely but not entirely obsolete.

shaping²

Rhymes with -eɪpɪŋ

Where it comes from

From Middle English shapinge, shapende, schapende, schappande, from Old English sċyppende, sċeppende, from Proto-West Germanic *skappjandī, from Proto-Germanic *skapjandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *skapjaną (“to form, shape, create”), equivalent to shape + -ing.

verb

  1. gerund, participle, present present participle and gerund of shape

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: formation, formative, defining, constructive, form, forming, configuration, composition, layout, build, making, structuring, organising, elaboration, fabrication, fashioning

Translations

Every language

noun the action of the verb to shape

DeutschFormung

noun method of positive reinforcement

Españolmoldeamiento

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MLA

"shaping." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/shaping. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

shaping. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/shaping

Chicago

"shaping." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/shaping.

BibTeX
@misc{shaping_2026,
  title = {shaping},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/shaping},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}