shop

[ shop ]

/ ʃɒp /

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noun

a retail store, especially a small one.

a small store or department in a large store selling a specific or select type of goods: the ski shop at Smith's.

the workshop of a craftsperson or artisan.

the workshop of a person who works in a manual trade; place for doing specific, skilled manual work: a carpenter's shop.

any factory, office, or business: Our ad agency is a well-run shop.

Education.

a course of instruction in a trade, as carpentry, printing, etc., consisting chiefly of training in the use of its tools and materials.
a classroom in which such a course is given.

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

verb (used without object), shopped, shop·ping.

to visit shops and stores for purchasing or examining goods.

to seek or examine goods, property, etc., offered for sale: Retail merchants often stock their stores by shopping in New York.

to seek a bargain, investment, service, etc. (usually followed by for): I'm shopping for a safe investment that pays good interest.

verb (used with object), shopped, shop·ping.

to seek or examine goods, property, etc., offered for sale in or by: She's shopping the shoe stores this afternoon.

Chiefly British Informal.

to put into prison; jail.
to behave treacherously toward; inform on; betray.

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

interjection

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

Nearby words

shooting star, shooting stick, shooting war, shootist, shootout, shop, shop around, shop assistant, shop floor, shop right, shop steward

Idioms

set up shop, to go into business; begin business operations: to set up shop as a taxidermist.

shut up shop,

to close a business temporarily, as at the end of the day.
to suspend business operations permanently: They couldn't make a go of it and had to shut up shop.

talk shop, to discuss one's trade, profession, or business: After dinner we all sat around the table and talked shop.

Origin of shop

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

Related forms

in·ter·shop, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for set up shop

shop

/ (ʃɒp) /

noun

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

an act or instance of shopping, esp household shoppingthe weekly shop

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

all over the shop informal

in disarrayhis papers were all over the shop
in every directionI've searched for it all over the shop

shut up shop

to close business at the end of the day or permanently
to become defensive or inactive

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

verb shops, shopping or shopped

(intr often foll by for) to visit a shop or shops in search of (goods) with the intention of buying them

(tr) slang, mainly British to inform on or betray, esp to the police

Word Origin for shop

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

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

Idioms and Phrases with set up shop (1 of 2)

set up shop

Open a business, start a profession, as in Now that you've got your degree, where do you plan to set up shop? This idiom was first recorded about 1570.

Idioms and Phrases with set up shop (2 of 2)

shop

In addition to the idiom beginning with shop

shop around

also see:

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