whip into shape
Make ready fast
To whip into shape is to bring something or someone to a proper condition through discipline or effort.
The phrase implies transformation from disorder to order: The new coach whipped the team into shape.
It suggests firm, sometimes harsh methods—the whip evokes both speed and correction.
You can whip a messy room, a struggling business, or an undisciplined group into shape.
- fix upRestore or arrange
- spruce upMake neater or smarter
- clean houseRemove all problems wholesale
- drillHole-boring device
- boot campInitial military instruction program
get your act together · order · train · improve · regiment · enforce · lay down the law · streamline · coach · correct · systematize · reform · police · overhaul · supervise · mentor · tough love · push
- food idiomspiece of cake, bread winner, low-hanging fruit, cool as a cucumber, bad egg
- getting organizedget organized, in order, put in place, straighten up, tidy up
- Horse Idiomshold your horses, dark horse, high horse, straight from the horse's mouth, horse sense
whip into shapecoddle
Overindulge or poach gently
baby · pamper · take it slow · hand-hold · mollycoddle
whip into shapeneglect
Failure to provide care
run into the ground · let slide · ruin · destroy · wreck
whip into shapelet be
Cease interfering with
leave alone · hands off · look the other way · turn a blind eye · laissez-faire
whip, whips, whipped, whipping, whiplike, shape, shapes, shaped, shaping