formulate

To formulate something is to work a rough idea into words exact enough to use. You do not formulate a feeling; you formulate a plan, a question, a policy — you settle precisely what it says.

It goes with plan, strategy, policy, theory, hypothesis, question, argument and response. The noun formulation names both the act and the exact wording chosen, so 'a careful formulation' means somebody picked those words on purpose. In industry it means building a product to a recipe: a shampoo formulated for dry hair, a feed formulated for lambs. Formulate is a written word — in speech people say work out, draw up, or come up with. Keep it clear of formulaic, which is an insult: made to a pattern, and dull for it.