window-shop
Americanverb (used without object)
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window-shops,
present (3rd person singular)
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window-shopped,
past participle, past
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window-shopping
present participle
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to look at articles in the windows of stores without making any purchases.
-
to examine or evaluate merchandise for possible purchase, use, etc..
Russian delegations are window-shopping in European factories.
verb (used with object)
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window-shops,
present (3rd person singular)
-
window-shopped,
past participle, past
-
window-shopping
present participle
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
-
have been window-shoppingperfect progressive
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has been window-shoppingperfect progressive
Past
-
window-shoppedsimple
-
had window-shoppedperfect
-
was window-shoppingprogressive
-
were window-shoppingprogressive
-
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 was the place to go if you needed “Munsters” action figures or rocket-shaped water guns, but it closed in 2010, denying retro-minded cineastes a place to window-shop before a screening.
From New York Times ● Feb. 6, 2014
"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
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
Into Provincetown: window-shopped, people-watched and ate sugar-dusted malasadas from the Portuguese bakery.
From New York Times ● Aug. 2, 2013
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
“Everybody is kind of in window-shopping behavior right now,” says Bre Clinton, an assistant manager for the Body Shop at Baybrook Mall.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 24, 2023
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
Lately, consumers haven’t just been window-shopping; they have been seeking out fake food items online.
From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2021
It was in Chicago that I found "window-shopping" at its most enterprising.
From Roving East and Roving West by E. V. (Edward Verrall) Lucas
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.
