take shape
verb1
Figuratively, Often To take a definite form.
- After two hours of discussion, our plans began to take shape.
- Yet it was all interesting and the process of being partly responsible for stripping down a locomotive and seeing it take shape again was quite a thrill.1944 September and October, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 285:
1 more example
- It was the section of the North Midland Railway from Derby to Ambergate which provided the springboard for a scheme that took shape in the early part of 1845 for a route through the Peak to Manchester.1960 March, J. P. Wilson, E. N. C. Haywood, “The route through the Peak - Derby to Manchester: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 148:
- Synonyms
- come into being, form