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.
So you just have to log in, shop around and find out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Some buyers are hesitant to shop around because they’re worried about multiple “hard” credit pulls impacting their credit ratings.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
The avoidable mortgage costs that people who bought homes since 2022 pay annually because they didn’t shop around for the best mortgage, according to Bankrate.
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
A contract would make it harder for them to do that, and easier for him to sell to one dealer what he had bought from another—and thus to shop around for prices.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
