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.

---

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

---

verb

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

Other Word 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

It took a team of about 40 to build “Spectra,” first in a workshop in Leeds before final assembly on the festival grounds.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

Her first act as a nonworking person: a solo trip to Scotland, where she took a darning workshop and learned how to repair sweaters.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026

Unruly salt-and-pepper hair in a long quaff, round glasses and broad smile give James Ortiz the look of a whimsical inventor, the kind that hides away in his workshop crafting extraordinary artifacts.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

She said one mother and daughter told her that since attending the workshop they now saw hair care as "a real bonding experience" for them.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

We were given special opportunities, including weekly trips to a community college to attend an advanced writing workshop or dissect a rat in the biology lab.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Related Words

• factory
• laboratory
• mill
• plant
• studio