Meanings
plural shapers
- agentAny agent that shapes (something), whether literally or figuratively.
one's birth is a shaper of one's fortunes
1 more example
Considered merely as works of art, these products of the Greek imagination [i.e., Greek tragedies] satisfy our highest conception of form. […] The secret of those old shapers died with them; their wand is broken, their book sunk deeper than ever plummet sounded.
1876, James Russell Lowell, “Dante”, in Among My Books. Second Series., Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., →OCLC, page 98- agenthobbiesA person who designs and builds surfboards.
- agentengineeringA machine tool in which a single-point cutting tool mounted on a reciprocating ram is traversed across the workpiece linearly. Shapers can generate various shapes, but were most especially employed in generating flat surfaces and keyways. The shaper is nowadays obsolescent, most of its applications being served by milling machines.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishsċyppend
- Middle Englishschapere
- Englishshaper
From Middle English schapere, alteration (perhaps due to Old Norse skaperi, skapari) of Old English sċyppend, sċieppend (“shaper; maker; creator”), equivalent to shape + -er. Cognate with Dutch schepper, German Schöpfer, Danish skaber, Swedish skapare, Icelandic skapari.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan llimadora
- llimadoraA machine tool
Czech obrážečka
- obrážečkaA machine tool
Dutch schaafbank
- schaafbankA machine tool
French étau-limeur
- étau-limeurA machine tool
German Stoßmaschine
- StoßmaschineA machine tool
Irish múnlóir
- múnlóirA machine tool
Italian limatrice
- limatriceA machine tool
Polish strugarka
- strugarkaA machine tool
Spanish limadora
- limadoraA machine tool
Swedish kipphyvel, bordsfräs
- kipphyvelA machine tool
- bordsfräsA machine tool
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with shaper
Anagrams
Cite this entry
shaper. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shaper
“shaper.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shaper. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shaper,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shaper.
Source: shaper on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.