Meaning of form in English

sortWhat sort of clothes do you like to wear?
kindWhat kind of job are you looking for?
typeHe's the type of man who never listens to what you're saying.
formSwimming is the best form of exercise.
varietyThe article was about the different varieties of Spanish spoken in South America.
categoryThere are three categories of hotel room - standard, executive, and deluxe.

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Aerobics is one of the most stimulating forms of exercise.
Body language is a potent form of non-verbal communication.
Emma's only form of recreation seems to be shopping.
Bicycles are a cheap and efficient form of transport.
Simple forms of life have only one cell.

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Categories and varieties

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form noun (SHAPE)

C1 [ C ]

the shape or appearance of something:

I could just about make out his sleeping form on the bed.

The moon highlighted the shadowy forms of the hills.

The lawn was laid out in the form of the figure eight.

take form

to gradually be seen or gradually develop:

Trees and hedges started to take form as the fog cleared.

As they chatted, the idea of going skiing together gradually took form.

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She looked at Timothy's recumbent form beside her.
The song achieved a perfect unity between form and content.
The sculpture was inspired by natural forms.
He could see the form of a vehicle approaching in the distance.
The chairs were arranged in the form of circle.

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Patterns and shapes

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Conditions and characteristics

Appearing & disappearing

form noun (ABILITY)

[ U ]

A competitor's form is their ability to be successful over a period of time:

Both horses have shown good form over the last season.

After a bad year, she has regained her form.

be on good, great, etc. form C2 UK (US be in good, great, etc. form)

to be feeling or performing well:

Paul was on good form at the wedding and kept everyone entertained.

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After the humiliation of last week's defeat, the Mets were back on form.
She's currently experiencing a dip in form.
The team are in unbeatable form.
Ashia Hansen rediscovered her best form with a morale-boosting win in the triple jump.
He has been struggling to regain his form after a series of defeats.

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Skill, talent and ability

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Extremely good

form noun (GRAMMAR)

B1 [ C ] language specialized

one part of a verb or other word that has a special use or meaning:

The continuous form of "stand" is "standing".

"Stood" is the irregular past tense form of "stand".

"Hers" is the possessive form of "her".

"Isn't" is the short form of "is not".

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the genitive form of a noun
the imperative form of the verb

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Linguistics: verb forms, tenses & types of verbs

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form noun (SCHOOL GROUP)

B1 [ C ]

in the UK, a class of school children or a group of classes of children of a similar age

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Students & pupils

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form noun (BEHAVIOUR)

bad form old-fashioned

rude behaviour:

Was that bad form then, leaving so early?

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Rude and cheeky

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form noun (SEAT)

[ C ] old-fashioned

a long, thin seat, usually without a back

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Chairs & seats

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Grammar

Not only … but also

We use not only X but also Y in formal contexts: …

(Definition of form from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

form | American Dictionary

form

verb

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/fɔrm/

form verb (COME TOGETHER)

[ I/T ]

to come together and make a particular order or shape:

[ + to infinitive ] A crowd formed to watch the fire.

[ T ] Please form a single line.

[ T ] The geese flying overhead formed a V-shaped pattern.

form verb (BEGIN HAVING)

[ T ]

to begin to have:

I formed the opinion that I was not really welcome there any more.

form verb (BEGIN)

[ T ]

to begin something, esp. organizing people or things:

We formed a community group to help people who are sick or disabled.

They formed a new publishing company.

form

noun

form noun (TYPE)

[ C ] us

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/fɔrm/

a type or kind of something, or the particular way in which something exists:

I was always more interested in poetry than in other forms of literature.

She has a mild form of the flu and should be OK in a few days.

The medicine comes in the form of a liquid or pills.

form noun (SHAPE/APPEARANCE)

[ C ] us

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/fɔrm/

the shape or appearance of something:

The stadium was in the form of a circle.

form noun (DOCUMENT)

[ C ] us

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/fɔrm/

something, usually paper, that has spaces marked where you fill in information:

Fill out an application form and we will let you know if a job opens up.

form noun (ART/MUSIC)

[ C ] literature us/fɔrm/

the organization, shape, and structure of a written work

[ C ] art, music us/fɔrm/

Form in a work of art or piece of music is the design or arrangement of it that it shares with other works of the same type

form noun (BEHAVIOR)

[ U ] us

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/fɔrm/

the way in which someone does something:

He was in great form and won the golf tournament by 7 strokes.

(Definition of form from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

form | Business English

form

noun [ C ]

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/fɔːm/ us

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(also US blank)

a document printed with spaces in which to write answers or information:

fill in/out a form You will need to fill in form FW 20, available from your Social Security office.

You will be required to sign several forms.

See also

application form
claim form
I-9 form
order form
substance over form
tax form

form

verb

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/fɔːm/ us

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[ I or T ]

to create a company, organization, etc.:

form a business/company/firm They joined together to form their own garment company.

form a committee/agency/task force The council President formed the committee when the number of complaints jumped from around 50 per month to nearly 1,200.

[ T ]

to develop a successful relationship with a person, organization, or country, especially for a particular purpose:

form a coalition/partnership/alliance A regional Latino business coalition was formed to seek ways to fight the measures.

(Definition of form from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of form

form

Genes involved in signal transduction and protein destination/storage formed the second (13%) and third largest groups (12%), respectively.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Considering the difficulty of changing data collection systems in mid-stream, few changes are being considered that would require grantees to revise their forms or procedures.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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In addition to drugs, surgery is sometimes indicated to remove focalized infections, such as pulmonary cavities, or to debride osseous forms of the disease.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Conventionally, the side of the amphibian and fish embryo where the organizer forms has been called dorsal, with the opposite side labeled as ventral.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In transplant or explant studies, animal ectoderm that forms epidermis, when undisturbed, is susceptible to neural induction by the organizer.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Several theories have attempted to explain the differentiation and morphogenesis of the mesenchyme that forms the tissues of the iridocorneal angle (see).

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Such a position would not only ignore the process of literary or aesthetic production, but also the social nature of linguistic forms.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Their critique of scientific positivism and literary scholasticism was specifically based on the claim that these forms suppressed the materiality and productivity of language.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

What has changed is that while modernism quoted popular forms while trying to transcend them, postmodernist texts frequently work from within popular forms.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In the four years after the 1918 suffrage grant, 650 were formed.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Let us call these forms of neighbourly love.

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The limitations of theory for the practice of annotation take three forms.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Also, two organizations were developing reporting forms to standardize the mechanism and language used to report incidents to the organization for further analysis and dissemination.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Most case studies are on topics about which some kind of opinion has been formed.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

All membranous boundary structures in contemporary forms of life incorporate a lipid bilayer as the primary barrier to free diffusion of solutes.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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