# shaping

Pronunciation: say "SHAYP-ing" /ˈʃeɪpɪŋ/

## Noun

1. The act or process of giving form to a material or object.
   - Simple: The act of giving something its form by molding, cutting, or bending it.
   - _The shaping of the metal panel required precise, repeated hammer blows._
   - _Careful shaping of the hedges gave the garden its formal look._
3. A method in operant conditioning that uses positive reinforcement to build a behavior pattern through a series of small steps.
   - Simple: A way of teaching a behavior step by step, giving rewards for each small move toward the goal.
   - _The therapist relied on shaping to build the patient's social skills over many sessions._
   - _Shaping helped the rat learn to press the lever for a food pellet._
4. The metal-cutting action of a shaper, a now largely obsolete machine that removes material with a linear, single-point cutting stroke.
   - Simple: The cutting of metal by a shaper, a machine that uses one moving blade to slice in straight lines.
   - _Before milling machines took over, shaping was the common way to flatten a metal block._
   - _The machinist set up the shaping to cut a keyway into the shaft._

## Verb

2. Present participle of shape. — present participle and gerund of shape
   - Simple: Present participle of shape. Use this -ing form when an action is still happening now.
   - _The committee is shaping new rules for the contest._
   - _Erosion is slowly shaping the canyon walls._

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 3–4** — From Middle English schapynge, equivalent to "shape" plus the suffix "-ing".
**Meaning 2** — From Middle English shapinge, shapende, from Old English sċyppende, from Proto-West Germanic *skappjandī, from Proto-Germanic *skapjandz, the present participle of *skapjaną ("to form, shape, create"); equivalent to "shape" plus "-ing".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/shaping (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).