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coffee shop

American  

noun

  1. a small, usually inexpensive, restaurant where refreshments and light meals are served.

coffee shop British  

noun

  1. a shop where coffee is sold or drunk

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of coffee shop

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Coffee shop chain Bluestone Lane added it to the menu at all its locations in early August, including in San Francisco.

From BBC • Sep. 12, 2024

Lopez, who still works at Catholic Charities, eventually ran to a nearby Scooter’s Coffee shop, where she called her son, Stephen Lopez, who picked her up.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 6, 2023

Coffee shop owners are going to great lengths to keep Washington caffeinated at a time when their sales are plummeting and the risks of spreading the coronavirus are rising.

From Washington Post • Mar. 30, 2020

“The eraser is a godsend,” said Jon Burgerman, pointing an iPhone in the direction of a compact, raggedy-haired dog outside a Blue Bottle Coffee shop in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.

From New York Times • Aug. 1, 2017

I am also renting ideal space for: • Doctor's office in lobby • Coffee shop with entrance from parking lot • Hi-class restaurant on entire top floor Six letters were delivered, just six.

From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.