shop
Americannoun
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shops
plural
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a retail store, especially a small one.
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a small store or department in a large store selling a specific or select type of goods.
the ski shop at Smith's.
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the workshop of a craftsperson or artisan.
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the workshop of a person who works in a manual trade; place for doing specific, skilled manual work.
a carpenter's shop.
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any factory, office, or business.
Our ad agency is a well-run shop.
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Education.
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a course of instruction in a trade, as carpentry, printing, etc., consisting chiefly of training in the use of its tools and materials.
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a classroom in which such a course is given.
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one's trade, profession, or business as a subject of conversation or preoccupation.
verb (used without object)
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shops,
present (3rd person singular)
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shopped,
past participle, past
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shopping
present participle
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to visit shops and stores for purchasing or examining goods.
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to seek or examine goods, property, etc., offered for sale.
Retail merchants often stock their stores by shopping in New York.
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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)
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shops,
present (3rd person singular)
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shopped,
past participle, past
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shopping
present participle
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to seek or examine goods, property, etc., offered for sale in or by.
She's shopping the shoe stores this afternoon.
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Chiefly British Informal.
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to put into prison; jail.
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to behave treacherously toward; inform on; betray.
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Slang. to try to sell (merchandise or a project) in an attempt to obtain an order or contract.
interjection
idioms
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set up shop, to go into business; begin business operations.
to set up shop as a taxidermist.
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talk shop, to discuss one's trade, profession, or business.
After dinner we all sat around the table and talked shop.
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shut up shop,
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to close a business temporarily, as at the end of the day.
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to suspend business operations permanently.
They couldn't make a go of it and had to shut up shop.
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noun
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a place, esp a small building, for the retail sale of goods and services
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an act or instance of shopping, esp household shopping
the weekly shop
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a place for the performance of a specified type of work; workshop
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informal
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in disarray
his papers were all over the shop
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in every direction
I've searched for it all over the shop
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to close business at the end of the day or permanently
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to become defensive or inactive
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to speak about one's work, esp when meeting socially, sometimes with the effect of excluding those not similarly employed
verb
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to visit a shop or shops in search of (goods) with the intention of buying them
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slang (tr) to inform on or betray, esp to the police
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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shopsimple
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shopssimple
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have shoppedperfect
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has shoppedperfect
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am shoppingprogressive
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are shoppingprogressive
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is shoppingprogressive
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have been shoppingperfect progressive
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has been shoppingperfect progressive
Past
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shoppedsimple
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had shoppedperfect
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was shoppingprogressive
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were shoppingprogressive
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had been shoppingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shop
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English shoppe (noun), Old English sceoppa “booth”; akin to scypen “stall” ( see shippon), German Schopf “lean-to,” Schuppen “shed”
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.
See Examples For:
They analyze shopping patterns and adjacency to other lifestyle destinations, for example a fantastic coffee shop or restaurant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Plus, Meta has a cute assistant for you and Kelly Clarkson picks a fight with a niche Brooklyn magic shop.
From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2026
He went on to describe his relationship with a niece who has Down syndrome and looks like him, and to talk about a coffee shop his family owns that employs people with her disability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Their identity is as a team who will have a real go at you and their approach is a bit like a bull in a china shop.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
Nate’s back is to me when I duck under the half-open rusted shop door.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
"It's great," one woman who came to watch told AFP in the town dotted with Chinese as well as Korean shops and restaurants, where residents were relieved the bridge had finally open.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Like the Simpsons, many hardware-store owners have long adopted a kitty or two at their shops to help keep mice out of the bird feed and grass seed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
In Orlando West, a neighbourhood of Soweto, residents had initially gathered to demand the closure of small convenience stores, known locally as spaza shops, operated by foreign nationals.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
From our apartment, I could reach five coffee shops, more nail salons than any person could reasonably need, clothing stores, restaurants and the beach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Although it was only 4:00 in the afternoon, the lights in the shops were coming on against the January dusk.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
If you have been looking to buy a health or beauty product, the chances are you will have shopped at a Boots somewhere in the UK.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Globally, about 350 million people shopped at luxury brands in 2024, down about 50 million from a peak in 2022, according to Bain, as aspirational shoppers retreated after years of price increases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Collins shopped with his grandmother Kathy Red Elk for a suit Walters could wear to court.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
And while Warner Bros. quietly allowed the movie to be shopped to different studios, no one met their price.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
If he had shopped alone, he would have spent too much.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
A California e-commerce platform is fueling the rise of live shopping in the United States, taking on giants such as TikTok and tackling concerns that the app is draining people’s bank accounts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
Paris police chief Patrice Faure banned demonstrations around the Elysee presidential palace, the prime minister's office, and the Champs-Elysees shopping avenue, among other key locations.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Among its capabilities, according to Apple, is that Siri on the HomeView can take voice commands to add items to a shopping list while the user is cooking dinner for the children.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Fake shopping sprees and ‘happiness insurance’: The latest fintech apps reveal our financial anxieties.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Nancy saw Nadine holding a shopping bag at her side.
From "Sleepover Sleuths: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #1" by Carolyn Keene
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