morph

noun

1. A recurrent distinctive sound or sequence of sounds representing an indivisible morphological form; especially as representing a morpheme.

   “Bq. ezpel ['box tree'] likely goes back to *ez-, a morph found in Basque tree names, and *-bel 'dark'.”

2. An allomorph: one of a set of realizations that a morpheme can have in different contexts.
3. A variety of a species, distinguishable from other individuals of the species by morphology or behaviour.

   “Briefly, the yellow morphic males can change their status from paired to satellite and from satellite to the paired one. However, they cannot cross into the status of the red morph.”

4. A computer-generated gradual change from one image to another.

   “But what is this metasubstance that blinks at us from the apex of the morph, and that in Terminator 2 is hyperbolized in the quicksilver substratum of the T-1000?”

5. (slang, uncountable)Morphine.

   “They're bringing you some morph before long. […] The tube has its own needle, and the medic jabs it in like he has done it a million times, then marks Chickenfeed's forehead so the Rear will know he's already had morphine.”

6. A hermaphrodite, an intersex person.

   “I am seeking to correspond with a TV [transvestite] or a natural morph. I want them to be passive (I'm totally non-violent) but open in feelings and ideas. I need no financial support, only moral support from a person with small sex parts.”

verb

1. (ambitransitive, colloquial)To change shape, from one form to another, through computer animation.
2. To shapeshift.

   “Meta leapt forward. In midair his lower half morphed, and suddenly he was one-half humanoid, one-half coiled spring.”

   “"Would it reflect badly on women if I morphed my bust size up a bit for it? Sorta like wearing a padded bra?"”

3. (broadly)To undergo dramatic change in a seamless and barely noticeable fashion.

   “By the time politicians in several cities backed down on Tuesday and announced that they would cut or consider reducing fares, the demonstrations had already morphed into a more sweeping social protest, with marchers waving banners carrying slogans like “The people have awakened.””

   ““Highbrow and lowbrow, alternative and mainstream, work and play, CEO and hipster are all morphing together today,” [Richard] Florida enthuses.”