closed shop

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noun

a factory, office, or other business establishment in which union membership is a condition of being hired as well as of continued employment.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Compare open shop.

Origin of closed shop

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05

Words nearby closed shop

closed season, closed sentence, closed set, closed shelf, closed shell, closed shop, closed source, closed-stack, closed stance, closed system, closed traverse

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use closed shop in a sentence

Narrowly focused groups like the American Foundation for Equal Rights and Freedom to Marry simply closed shop.
Why the Human Rights Campaign Had to Fire Its President|Philip Elliott|September 8, 2021|Time
Social media has lit up with pictures of signs posted on the doors of closed shops, declaring that there’s no one there to work.
Pandemics have long created labor shortages. Here’s why.|Spencer Strub|June 3, 2021|Washington Post
He closed his eyes, imagining the virgins, imagining away the pain in his head and groin.
Powerful Congressman Writes About ‘Fleshy Breasts’|Asawin Suebsaeng|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Finding the shop is a trip in itself and an introduction to a slice of history.
The Photographer Who Gave Up Manhattan for Marrakech|Liza Foreman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST

I suspect [Teresa] will get money sent in to her, so she can shop at the commissary.
How a ‘Real Housewife’ Survives Prison: ‘I Don’t See [Teresa Giudice] Having a Cakewalk Here’|Michael Howard|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Closed courthouses, rogue clerks, and misleading statements from the attorney general as Florida welcomes same-sex marriage.
The Back Alley, Low Blow-Ridden Fight to Stop Gay Marriage in Florida Is Finally Over|Jay Michaelson|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I wish I could be writing to you under better circumstances, but unfortunately those avenues have closed up.
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen|Parker Molloy|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But at the instant I caught a sight of my counterfeit presentment in a shop window, and veiled my haughty crest.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
Then a fat, untidy old man appeared in the doorway of a cubicle within the shop, and Edwin Clayhanger blushed.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
And now I can recall that his eyes closed, and from his lips I caught a sigh, and then he rolled to the floor.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
She wore a little red hood, and looked wistfully after Davy as the shop went out of sight.
Davy and The Goblin|Charles E. Carryl
Robin Hood stared at him for a moment with a puzzled expression, and then walked into his little shop, and Davy turned away.
Davy and The Goblin|Charles E. Carryl

British Dictionary definitions for closed shop

closed shop

noun

(formerly) an industrial establishment in which there exists a contract between a trade union and the employer permitting the employment of the union's members onlyCompare open shop, union shop

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

Cultural definitions for closed shop

closed shop

Technically, a business in which employees must join a labor union before being hired. This practice is now illegal. The term is used synonymously with union shop.

closed shop

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Origin of closed shop

Words nearby closed shop

Words related to closed shop

How to use closed shop in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for closed shop

Cultural definitions for closed shop