workshop

American  

[wurk-shop] / ˈwɜrkˌʃɒp /

noun

• workshops
  plural

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• workshops
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of workshop

First recorded in 1555–65; work + shop

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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

See Examples For:

workshop workshops workshopped workshopping

College later this fall and is currently helping to teach a workshop at the college on climate solutions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026

He began that manuscript, which takes place on the reservation, as an undergraduate at Princeton, in Toni Morrison’s long-fiction workshop.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

The term "artificial intelligence" was born in 1956 at an austere summer workshop at Dartmouth College.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

“We make sure that their drone cannot hear its operators,” said a sergeant at the workshop.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

We pass more workers, hanging a sign that reads Santa’s workshop.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

It said Torpoint Artists Collective would develop a programme of artist-led workshops including wildlife recording, photography and nature journalling.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

The Broad and L.A. artist Lauren Halsey forge partnership to offer South L.A. students free art field trips, community workshops and museum tours.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

Saturday's itinerary varies widely depending on the location, from a music festival in Los Angeles and a march to the Supreme Court in Washington, to family-friendly workshops in Chicago and election observer training in Atlanta.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

Companies that would never hire a consultant to explain how Virgos negotiate compensation packages request workshops on how Gen Z handles feedback.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

These were specially favoured by millers, smiths, ropers, and cartwrights, and others of that sort; for even when they had holes to live in, Hobbits had long been accustomed to build sheds and workshops.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

With his team, he workshopped lines they hoped would be like a bucket of ice water, including a slogan Carney had used before: “Nostalgia is not a strategy.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

Standing up and being counted can't always be workshopped.

From BBC ● May 12, 2026

Raicek has been busy in preproduction on her play “Fire Season,” which has already been workshopped with actors including Billy Crudup and Amanda Seyfried.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

Margo Price said "Love to see it" while Kacey Musgraves workshopped a few puns around the regency of Crow.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2025

In the professional theater world, you would say they have been workshopped.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

A group of bondholders recently met in Washington to present to the world’s top economists and policymakers a proposal they had been workshopping for the past year.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

She recalled workshopping Khong’s title story a decade ago with their longtime Bay Area writers group — about a newlywed who dies, goes to heaven and encounters her husband there again.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026

Anthropic’s partner, a startup called Andon Labs that is workshopping agentic businesses, built the hardware and software integration, and handled the entire setup.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025

Indeed, the administration is already workshopping a version of this argument, noting in Khalil’s case that their enforcement actions are entitled to a “presumption of regularity” by the courts.

From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2025

“There’s cinnamon swirl, cinnamon raisin. And this one I’ve been workshopping for the girls because they love everything rainbow — funfetti sourdough.”

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2025

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