Shape up

Pronunciation varies by accent · noun

Meaning

(slang) a gathering of labourers, where employers hire them for day jobs..

Definitions by Sense

1. (slang) a gathering of labourers, where employers hire them for day jobs.
2. (by extension) A regular meeting by a criminal organization in which jobs are assigned.
3. A session or routine in which someone or something is repaired or put into better shape.
4. A hairstyle that involves cutting along the natural hairline to straighten it.
5. An overview or outline of the major layout and shape of something.

Example Sentences

Even with all that prosperity there were bindle stiffs who didn't do so good: so he and the others dropped into a saloon, got a hundred bucks worth of small change, stepped back into the cab, drove over by the shapeup, that's what they said it was, a shapeup, and they threw money to the guys, laughed when they scrambled for the small change, niggers and wops, some poor yids, and some Americans too: they scrambled on the pier, scraping up a hundred bucks worth of nickels, dimes and pennies.

Then I got work as a janitor. They had shapeups, like on the waterfront.

From Henry James's "look in" on Italians, Jews, and others, to muckraking travelogues of immigrant neighborhoods, to serving as guinea pigs in the development of intelligence tests, to shapeups outside factories in pursuit of work, to inspections on entering the country, immigrants were repeatedly scrutinized, tried, examined, and ranked against other races.

The equation of the shapeup with waterfront criminality , which eventually — with a very large assist from Pete Corridan — took hold in the public imagination, obscured a much more complex and variegated labor economy that was evolving throughout the port.

The company can institute a "shapeup,” hiring each day from a gang of workers appearing at the gate a number equal to the number of its work stations.

Worse, he required his men to attend weekly shapeups at his social club on a busy street in lower Manhattan.

Before we began our weekend shapeup, the car looked like this: scratches and dents, broken trim, and a finish that was strictly dullsville.

Here are best bets, from shapeups with time for pampering to rugged outdoor fun .

Synonyms for shape up

Antonyms for shape up

Related Words

Word Forms

• shapeups
• shape-up

Usage Notes

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