"in form" meaning in English

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          "ref": "1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXVIII. Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume II, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], →OCLC, page 266:",
          "text": "[I]t being unlikely, he ſays, that he can procure in the time, a letter from Lady Betty, under her own hand, inviting me in form to her houſe, […]",
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          "ref": "1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XIV, in Emma: […], volume II, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 254:",
          "text": "[C]uriosity could not be satisfied by a bride in a pew, and it must be left for the visits in form which were then to be paid, to settle whether she were very pretty indeed, or only rather pretty, or not pretty at all.",
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        "As a matter of form; formally."
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          "ref": "2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC:",
          "text": "Manchester United's in-form striker rose to head home Stewart Downing's corner and then rounded off a sweeping counter-attack involving Theo Walcott and Ashley Young to wrap up the formalities seconds before the break.",
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      "glosses": [
        "Having good form; fit, performing well."
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  "word": "in form"
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          "ref": "1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXVIII. Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume II, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], →OCLC, page 266:",
          "text": "[I]t being unlikely, he ſays, that he can procure in the time, a letter from Lady Betty, under her own hand, inviting me in form to her houſe, […]",
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          "ref": "1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XIV, in Emma: […], volume II, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 254:",
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        "As a matter of form; formally."
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          "text": "Manchester United's in-form striker rose to head home Stewart Downing's corner and then rounded off a sweeping counter-attack involving Theo Walcott and Ashley Young to wrap up the formalities seconds before the break.",
          "type": "quote"
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