shop around
Britishverb
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to visit a number of shops or stores to compare goods and prices
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to consider a number of possibilities before making a choice
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Look for the best bargain, opportunity, or the like, as in This job offers only minimum wage so she decided to shop around for one with better pay . This expression alludes to looking in different stores in search of bargains or a particular item. [c. 1920]
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Look for a buyer for, offer for sale to various parties, as in The company is now being actively shopped around . [Second half of 1900s]
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.
Regulators have made the switching process easier in recent years, encouraging people to shop around when cost of living pressures have intensified.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
People who don’t shop around for the best mortgage rate end up paying what Fellowes calls a “hidden homeownership tax.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
If you are buying a home or refinancing one, shop around for a loan.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
Experiences like this have encouraged Nabongo to shop around more, she says, despite her elite status with Delta.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 10, 2026
Mama made the coach stop at a barber shop around the corner from their house.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
