shop

[shop]

noun

1. a retail store, especially a small one.

2. a small store or department in a large store selling a specific or select type of goods.

   the ski shop at Smith's.

3. the workshop of a craftsperson or artisan.

4. the workshop of a person who works in a manual trade; place for doing specific, skilled manual work.

   a carpenter's shop.

5. any factory, office, or business.

   Our ad agency is a well-run shop.

6. Education.

   1. a course of instruction in a trade, as carpentry, printing, etc., consisting chiefly of training in the use of its tools and materials.

   2. a classroom in which such a course is given.

7. one's trade, profession, or business as a subject of conversation or preoccupation.

verb (used without object)

shopped, shopping 

1. to visit shops and stores for purchasing or examining goods.

2. to seek or examine goods, property, etc., offered for sale.

   Retail merchants often stock their stores by shopping in New York.

3. to seek a bargain, investment, service, etc. (usually followed byfor ).

   I'm shopping for a safe investment that pays good interest.

verb (used with object)

shopped, shopping 

1. to seek or examine goods, property, etc., offered for sale in or by.

   She's shopping the shoe stores this afternoon.

2. Chiefly British Informal.

   1. to put into prison; jail.

   2. to behave treacherously toward; inform on; betray.

3. Slang.,  to try to sell (merchandise or a project) in an attempt to obtain an order or contract.

interjection

1. (used in a store, shop, etc., in calling an employee to wait on a customer.)

shop

/ ʃɒp /

noun

1. a place, esp a small building, for the retail sale of goods and services

2. an act or instance of shopping, esp household shopping

   the weekly shop

3. a place for the performance of a specified type of work; workshop

4. informal

   1. in disarray

      his papers were all over the shop

   2. in every direction

      I've searched for it all over the shop

5. 1. to close business at the end of the day or permanently

   2. to become defensive or inactive

6. to speak about one's work, esp when meeting socially, sometimes with the effect of excluding those not similarly employed

verb

1. to visit a shop or shops in search of (goods) with the intention of buying them

2. slang,  (tr) to inform on or betray, esp to the police

Other Word Forms

• intershop adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shop¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English shoppe (noun), Old English sceoppa “booth”; akin to scypen “stall” ( shippon ), German Schopf “lean-to,” Schuppen “shed”

Word History and Origins

Origin of shop¹

Old English sceoppa stall, booth; related to Old High German scopf shed, Middle Dutch schoppe stall

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. set up shop, to go into business; begin business operations.

   to set up shop as a taxidermist.

2. talk shop, to discuss one's trade, profession, or business.

   After dinner we all sat around the table and talked shop.

3. shut up shop,

   1. to close a business temporarily, as at the end of the day.

   2. to suspend business operations permanently.

      They couldn't make a go of it and had to shut up shop.

More idioms and phrases containing shop

• bull in a china shop
• close up (shop)
• set up (shop)
• shut up (shop)
• talk shop

Example Sentences

“Out of every shop window, every bar, you could hear Oasis, and they sounded better than they ever have.”

From Los Angeles Times

For someone to get you so effortlessly that even the mundane task of grocery shopping feels comforting is an anti-loneliness gift from the universe.

From Los Angeles Times

Spending less than an hour during work browsing properties or shopping online is not a sackable offence, a UK judge has ruled.

From BBC

"Supermarkets, sports shops and household goods stores had a strong start to the year, but spending there has fallen since March," said the ONS's director general of economic statistics, James Benford.

From BBC

Within months of buying standard vapes from shops, she moved to vapes she believed contained the illegal drug THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis that causes its mind-altering effects.

From BBC

Related Words

• boutique 
• chain 
• deli 
• department store 
• emporium 
• market 
• mill 
• outlet 
• showroom 
• stand 
• store 
• supermarket