workshop

American  

[wurk-shop] / ˈwɜrkˌʃɒp /

noun

1. a room, group of rooms, or building in which work, especially mechanical work, is carried on.

2. a seminar, discussion group, or the like, that emphasizes exchange of ideas and the demonstration and application of techniques, skills, etc..

   a theater workshop; an opera workshop.

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verb (used with object)

workshopped, workshopping

1. to experiment with different versions of (a play or other performance), often in a collaborative environment.

   Most comedians workshop their jokes in smaller clubs before adding them to a polished routine.

workshop British  

/ ˈwɜːkˌʃɒp /

noun

1. a room or building in which manufacturing or other forms of manual work are carried on

2. a room in a private dwelling, school, etc, set aside for crafts

3. a group of people engaged in study or work on a creative project or subject

   a music workshop

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verb

1. (tr) to perform (a play) with no costumes, set, or musical accompaniment

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• postworkshop
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of workshop

First recorded in 1555–65; work + shop

Explanation

A workshop is a place you go to work. If your mother enjoys carpentry, she might have a workshop in the basement where she can build furniture. Workshops are for making and fixing things like wooden furniture, cars, or mysterious inventions. A shorthand way to refer to a workshop is shop, as in the shop class offered in many high schools, which usually meets in a workshop. The noun workshop also means a course or meeting at which a work in progress — often a story, poem, or script — is discussed by a group of writers.

Example Sentences

The next week, Paul doesn’t turn in his story for the workshop.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026

As a result, there will be no practical workshop classes for S1 next year.

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026

PhD fashion students at DMU put on a workshop teaching pupils how to sew and mend damaged clothes.

From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026

On loan from the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, it is the only surviving fragment of a “Celestial Glory” fresco by Giotto and his workshop.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026

One morning Christoffels did not appear for Bible reading in the dining room, nor later in the workshop.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Related Words

• factory
• laboratory
• mill
• plant
• studio