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.
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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.[1801, J. J. Moore, “SHIP-shape”, in The British Mariner’s Vocabulary, […], London: […] T. Hurst [et al.], →OCLC:
[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; [...]1823, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter V, in The Pioneers, or The Sources of the Susquehanna; […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: Charles Wiley; […], →OCLC, page 83:
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When we set out on the jolly voyage of life, what a brave fleet there is around us, as stretching our fresh canvas to the breeze, all "shipshape and Bristol fashion," pennons flying, music playing, cheering each other as we pass, we are rather amused than alarmed when some awkward comrade goes right ashore for want of pilotage!1827, [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Chronicles of the Canongate; […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 111:
[G]lad to see you, gentlemen—steerage not quite shipshape at present—overhauling ship, you see; but when we once get under way, get things shipshape, you know.1835 July, Jack Block, “The Cruise of the Mohawk”, in The American Monthly Magazine, volume V, number V, New York, N.Y.: D. K. Minor, and T. & C. Wood, →OCLC, page 421:
Annie, my girl, cheer up, be comforted, / Look to the babes, and till I come again, / Keep everything shipshape, for I must go.1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Enoch Arden”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 13:
Well, Captain Smollett, what have you to say? All well, I hope; all shipshape and seaworthy?1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Powder and Arms”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part II (The Sea Cook), page 70:
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.
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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.1840, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter XV, in The Pathfinder: Or, The Inland Sea. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: Lea and Blanchard, →OCLC, page 233:
I have said a good deal about Bertha, because I like her frank, easy way, her desire to please, and her pleasant natural manner of doing it. I do n't think novel-writers and picture-makers say enough about such girls. [...] Those are the girls, Ma'am, whom I want to see described by people who know how to do this sort of thing up shipshape.1860 September, “The Observations of Mace Sloper, Esq.: Second Series. The Cottage on the North River.”, in Lewis Gaylord Clark, editor, The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, volume LVI, number 3, New York, N.Y.: John A. Gray, […], →OCLC, pages 293–294:
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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!1897, Joseph Conrad, chapter II, in The Children of the Sea: A Tale of the Forecastle, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, →OCLC, page 48: