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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.

Edward Lloyd’s coffee shop by the River Thames rented out tables where businessmen sold insurance to shipowners in the event their vessels never made it home.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

One afternoon, I went to a coffee shop in Santa Monica where a middle-aged red-headed guy with a beard was playing Van Morrison songs on his guitar.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

You may discover a cute coffee shop or yoga studio nearby that makes you even happier you chose this location.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026

In the Netflix film, Swan demonstrates with calipers on a life-size, anatomically correct male baby doll in a coffee shop to the nervous titters of the participants.

From Slate • Apr. 16, 2026

It looked like something you’d see on a really cool chalkboard at a coffee shop.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

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.