window-shop
Americanverb (used without object)
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to look at articles in the windows of stores without making any purchases.
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to examine or evaluate merchandise for possible purchase, use, etc..
Russian delegations are window-shopping in European factories.
verb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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window-shopsimple
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window-shopssimple
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have window-shoppedperfect
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has window-shoppedperfect
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am window-shoppingprogressive
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are window-shoppingprogressive
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is window-shoppingprogressive
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have been window-shoppingperfect progressive
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has been window-shoppingperfect progressive
Past
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window-shoppedsimple
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had window-shoppedperfect
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was window-shoppingprogressive
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were window-shoppingprogressive
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had been window-shoppingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of window-shop
First recorded in 1925–30
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.
See Examples For:
There are many great deals to be had today, especially if you enjoy a variety of options to browse and online window-shop.
From The Verge ● Oct. 14, 2021
Customers can window-shop now ahead of the open enrollment, which begins Tuesday and ends Jan. 31.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 30, 2016
"It's a result of more and more technology in the hands of the consumer, which allows them to virtually window-shop," he said.
From Reuters ● Jan. 8, 2014
Typically, people window-shop more than a dozen times before buying.
From Slate ● Sep. 30, 2013
She took long bus rides to faraway department stores and supermarkets where she’d window-shop for hours and spend fifty cents.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
A woman window-shops in Buenos Aires on Jan. 27.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2014
In his self-appointed role as the omninventoried merchant prince, Marcus window-shops Europe with his camera in search of ideas, on one trip spotted a French silk housecoat that he copied this year in chinchilla.
From Time Magazine Archive
Bored, Dot window-shops on Eddie's forty-a-week, but Eddie refuses to buy furniture "on time."
From Time Magazine Archive
She loves the small, poky stores, and she window-shops, running in place.
From Time Magazine Archive
While others window-shopped for inspiration he was his own adman, pushing imagery that would become as recognizable as any logo dreamt up by a Madison Avenue firm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
To tide us over, my fiancée and I window-shopped for dogs online.
From Slate ● Apr. 2, 2020
I window-shopped Scandinavian decor, homemade apothecary products and jewelry before grabbing a cup of java at Global Coffee and relaxing in the warehouse-style communal space.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 13, 2019
We tasted our way through vibrant food markets, sampling wild asparagus and raw milk cheeses; promenaded through the Palais Royal; meandered on Avenue Montaigne; window-shopped along Place Vendôme.
From New York Times ● Jun. 9, 2011
With three hours to kill until bus time, I walked and window-shopped on Canal.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
"I love that you can just walk in and sort of experience it from the street," said Agata Seferynska, a Polish student who came window-shopping with a friend.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2025
Most of my window-shopping nowadays is conducted online, where book covers are reduced to flat, rectangular images that are merely elements on a page.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2023
The most difficult reservation on Worth Avenue, the town’s luxe window-shopping strip, is Le Bilboquet, an outpost of the Upper East Side French-inspired bistro, which opened in Palm Beach in 2021.
From New York Times ● Apr. 2, 2022
Over Memorial Day weekend, Abilene Hagee could look out of Trail’s End Bookstore and see throngs of people window-shopping along the main street.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 7, 2021
For half an hour they sat comfortably in their chairs and watched men and women walking, witnessed one dog fight, cruised slowly up and down, looking into windows of homes, window-shopping in the business section.
From Empire by Simak, Clifford D.
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.
