shape
v.— «Each weekday United Hispanic workers “shape”—search for work—by driving throughout Manhattan and the Bronx and visiting job sites.…As the shape van wound down to ground zero and back to the Bronx, a picture of construction employment in the city emerged.…By the time Mr. Mackey returned to the shape hall shortly after noon, several members were snoozing in the back of the van. No members got work that morning, but that was not the shape’s sole purpose.…Mr. Haughton set up in a storefront at Fifth Avenue and 125th Street, where he and the other founders of Harlem Fight Back began organizing demonstrations, going to court and “shaping” black workers.…On the day of the shape, after the vans returned, about 50 workers convened in the shape hall.» —“This Hammer for Hire” by Johnny Dwyer New York Times Feb. 4, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
If you speak a second or third language, you may remember the first time you dreamed in that new tongue. But does this milestone mean you’re actually fluent? And a couple’s dispute over the word regret: Say you wish you’d been able...
The word filibuster has a long and colorful history, going back to the days when pirates roamed the high seas. Today it refers to hijacking a piece of legislation. Plus, the language of yoga teachers: When doing a guided meditation, you may hear...