Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SHAPE, n.

1. Form or figure as constituted by lines and angles; as, the shape of a horse or a tree; the shape of the head, hand or foot.
2. External appearance. He beat me grievously in the shape of a woman. – Shak.
3. The form of the trunk of the human body; as, a clumsy shape; an elegant shape.
4. A being as endowed with form. Before the gates there sat, / On either side, a formidable shape. – Milton.
5. Idea; pattern. – Milton.
6. Form. This application comes before the legislature in the shape of a memorial.
7. Manner.