shape up
phrasal verb·1 sense·particle up
Meanings
Improve performance or behaviour
Why “up”? A standard is an expected level. A person or thing is good enough when they reach it.
“He'd better shape up at work.”
“The team shaped up before the final matches.”
Test yourself
“He'd better shape up at work.” What does it mean?
Nearby in the meaning map
Sink In connects verbs by particle pattern, contrast pairs, and shared base verbs.
keep up
Same up pattern: good enough
Continue at the same level or rate; Move at the same speed as someone else; Stay informed about something current; Prevent someone from going to bed or sleeping; Prevent something from falling down; Maintain pretences, an appearance or a habit; Match the social or financial standard of others
live up
Same up pattern: good enough
Match a particular standard or expectation (live up to)
man up
Same up pattern: good enough
Show courage and face a difficulty
measure up
Same up pattern: good enough
Be good enough for a particular standard
Sink In — iOS & Android
Practice “shape up” in Sink In
Drill “shape up” and 1,300+ other phrasal verbs with spaced repetition, organised by the particle patterns that connect them.
- Learn the pattern behind dozens of verbs at once — not one-off translations.
- Spaced repetition (SM-2) brings each meaning back right before you forget.
- Four practice modes train recall and discrimination, not just recognition.
