Begin
Begin verb - To come into existence.
Usage example: the storm began late in the day and lasted all night
Nearby Word: beginning
Shape
Shape verb - To change (something) so as to make it suitable for a new use or situation.
Common collocations
| life | begin life | shape life |
| plot | begin plot | shape plot |
| development | begin development | shape development |
| way | begin way | shape way |
| Other words: lives. | ||
Both words in one sentence
- The Great God Om points out in Small Gods that the shape of the body influences the shape of the mind, so if you spend too long in the body of, say, a tortoise, you begin to think like a tortoise.
-
But it would still be a while before the medium would truly begin to take shape...
Source: Useful Notes / Early Animation -
Off Model: Despite being one of the few cases where there isnt a uniform model to begin with, seeing the characters randomly change size or even shape in the same page is very disorienting.
Source: Webcomic / Sonichu
Cite this Source
Shape and Begin. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/begin/shape
Begin & Shape. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/begin/shape>.
Shape or Begin. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/begin/shape.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "begin" and "shape" have occurred on timeline