1the visible shape or configuration of something:the form, colour, and texture of the tree [mass noun]:the flowers of this shrub are remarkable both in form and colour
the body or shape of a person or animal:his eyes scanned her slender form
[mass noun] style, design, and arrangement in an artistic work as distinct from its content:these videos are a triumph of form over content
2a particular way in which a thing exists or appears:essays in book formenergy in the form of light
any of the ways in which a word may be spelled, pronounced, or inflected:an adjectival form
Philosophy the essential nature of a species or thing, especially (in Plato’s thought) regarded as an abstract ideal which real things imitate or participate in.
3a type or variety of something:sponsorship is a form of advertising
an artistic or literary genre:a form is as good as the writer who chooses it
Botany a taxonomic category that ranks below variety, which contains organisms differing from the typical kind in some trivial, frequently impermanent, character, e.g. a colour variant.Also called forma.
4 [mass noun] the customary or correct method or procedure:an excessive concern for legal form and precedent
[count noun] a ritual or convention:the outward forms of religion
[count noun] a set order of words; a formula:a form of words
5a printed document with blank spaces for information to be inserted:an application form
6chiefly British a class or year in a school, usually given a specifying number:the fifth form
7 [mass noun] the state of a sports player or team with regard to their current standard of play:they are one of the best teams around on current form
details of previous performances by a racehorse or greyhound:an interested bystander studying the form
a person’s mood and state of health:she seemed to be on good form
British informal a criminal record:they both had form
