shipshape

Definitions

ship + shape = 'in the shape/order of a ship.' On a working sailing vessel every rope, sail, and barrel had a fixed place, because clutter at sea was dangerous. A well-ordered ship became the gold standard of tidiness, so shipshape means perfectly neat.

Why It Means This

The word freezes a piece of sailing culture. A ship at sea could not afford mess: a loose rope or a barrel rolling on deck could capsize the vessel or injure the crew, so everything was lashed down and stowed in its exact place. 'Shipshape' captured that discipline, and the longer idiom 'shipshape and Bristol fashion' praised the famously well-run port of Bristol.

Common Collocations

• 1.shipshape and Bristol fashion整洁有序、一丝不苟
• 2.keep shipshape保持整洁有序
• 3.get shipshape整理得井井有条
• 4.neat and shipshape干净整洁

Example Sentences

• 1.

  She spent the morning getting the kitchen shipshape before the guests arrived.

• 2.

  The captain kept his cabin shipshape at all times.

• 3.

  After the repairs, the old house was finally shipshape again.