shipshape

adj
/ˈʃɪpʃeɪp/UK/ˈʃɪpˌʃeɪp/US

Etymology

From ship + shapen (“shaped; wrought with a definite shape”), later shortened to shape. The word is of nautical origin, based on the obligation of a sailor to keep his or her quarters arranged neatly and securely due to the limited space typically allotted to service members aboard ship, and against turbulence at sea.

  1. derived from *skapaną
  2. inherited from *skapanaz
  3. inherited from ġesċapen
  4. inherited from schapen
  5. compounded as shipshape — “ship + shapen

Definitions

  1. Meticulously neat and tidy.

    • SHIP-shape, in a seaman-like manner; as "That mast is not rigged ship-shape;" "Put her about ship-shape," &c.
    • [I]t would have been more ship-shape to lower the bight of a rope, or a running bow-line, below me, than to seize an old sea-man by his head-lanyard; [...]
  2. Neatly and tidily to a meticulous extent.

    • No—sir—if I sink, I sink; but d——e, I'll go down ship-shape and with dignity.
    • Some of you have n't sense enough to put a blanket ship-shape over a sick man. There! Leave it alone! I can die anyhow!

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for shipshape. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA