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Showing results for coffee shop. Search instead for feoffeeship.
Synonyms

coffee shop

American  

noun

  1. a small, usually inexpensive, restaurant where refreshments and light meals are served.

coffee shop British  

noun

  1. a shop where coffee is sold or drunk

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of coffee shop

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

Compare meaning

How does coffee-shop compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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.

“Leave those boxes unpacked and get out of your home. Join a class, walk to a coffee shop or hang out at the library.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 22, 2026

Amir Hossein, 29, a coffee shop manager in a secure area of the capital, said he had lost 60% of his customers since the capital shut down again on Sunday.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

“We need to prove that we meet that bar that people in L.A. have for what a great coffee shop can be,” Freiha said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

In the Netanyahu case, conspiracy theorists pointed to an AI detection tool that falsely labeled his coffee shop video as "96.9 percent AI-generated."

From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026

For example: a local park, a coffee shop, the library, or bus stops.*

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

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.