shop

[ shop ]

noun

1. a retail store, especially a small one.
2. a small store or department in a large store selling a specific or select type of goods:

   the ski shop at Smith's.

3. the workshop of a craftsperson or artisan.
4. the workshop of a person who works in a manual trade; place for doing specific, skilled manual work:

   a carpenter's shop.

5. any factory, office, or business:

   Our ad agency is a well-run shop.

6. Education.
   1. a course of instruction in a trade, as carpentry, printing, etc., consisting chiefly of training in the use of its tools and materials.
   2. a classroom in which such a course is given.
7. one's trade, profession, or business as a subject of conversation or preoccupation.

verb (used without object)

, shopped, shop·ping.

1. to visit shops and stores for purchasing or examining goods.
2. to seek or examine goods, property, etc., offered for sale:

   Retail merchants often stock their stores by shopping in New York.

3. to seek a bargain, investment, service, etc. (usually followed by for ):

   I'm shopping for a safe investment that pays good interest.

verb (used with object)

, shopped, shop·ping.

1. to seek or examine goods, property, etc., offered for sale in or by:

   She's shopping the shoe stores this afternoon.

2. Chiefly British Informal.
   1. to put into prison; jail.
   2. to behave treacherously toward; inform on; betray.
3. Slang. to try to sell (merchandise or a project) in an attempt to obtain an order or contract.

interjection

1. (used in a store, shop, etc., in calling an employee to wait on a customer.)

shop

/ ʃɒp /

noun

1. a place, esp a small building, for the retail sale of goods and services
2. an act or instance of shopping, esp household shopping

   the weekly shop

3. a place for the performance of a specified type of work; workshop
4. all over the shop informal.
   1. in disarray

      his papers were all over the shop

   2. in every direction

      I've searched for it all over the shop

5. shut up shop
   1. to close business at the end of the day or permanently
   2. to become defensive or inactive
6. talk shop
   to speak about one's work, esp when meeting socially, sometimes with the effect of excluding those not similarly employed

verb

1. introften foll byfor to visit a shop or shops in search of (goods) with the intention of buying them
2. slang.
   tr to inform on or betray, esp to the police

Other Words From

• inter·shop adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shop¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English shoppe (noun), Old English sceoppa “booth”; akin to scypen “stall” ( shippon ), German Schopf “lean-to,” Schuppen “shed”

Word History and Origins

Origin of shop¹

Old English sceoppa stall, booth; related to Old High German scopf shed, Middle Dutch schoppe stall

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. set up shop, to go into business; begin business operations:

   to set up shop as a taxidermist.

2. shut up shop,
   1. to close a business temporarily, as at the end of the day.
   2. to suspend business operations permanently:

      They couldn't make a go of it and had to shut up shop.

3. talk shop, to discuss one's trade, profession, or business:

   After dinner we all sat around the table and talked shop.

More idioms and phrases containing shop

In addition to the idiom beginning with shop , also see bull in a china shop ; close up (shop) ; set up (shop) ; shut up (shop) ; talk shop .

Example Sentences

Maybe they shop too much, or need a cheaper cell phone plan.

From Slate

Like many of the women who have told the BBC they were abused by Mohamed Al Fayed, Helen says she was spotted by him on one of his routine walks of the Harrods shop floor.

From BBC

“Two years ago I got a job in a new shop,” she recalled.

From Salon

Mr McGreanery, a shop assistant, was shot after a member of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards – known as Soldier A - opened fire from an Army sanger overlooking the junctions of Eastway, Lone Moor Road and Westland Street.

From BBC

“We’ve got a one-stop shop here in Canada, not every nation’s like that,” Prof Piro said.

From BBC

Related Words

• boutique
• chain
• deli
• department store
• emporium
• market
• mill
• outlet
• showroom
• stand
• store
• supermarket