Advertisement

View synonyms for

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, shopping 
  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 byfor ).

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

verb (used with object)

shopped, shopping 
  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

/ ʃɒ /

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. informal

    1. in disarray

      his papers were all over the shop

    2. in every direction

      I've searched for it all over the shop

    1. to close business at the end of the day or permanently

    2. to become defensive or inactive

  5. to speak about one's work, esp when meeting socially, sometimes with the effect of excluding those not similarly employed

“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

verb

  1. 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

“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
Discover More

Other Word Forms

  • intershop adjective
Discover More

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 “l𲹲-ٴ,” Schuppen “s”
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of shop1

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

Idioms and Phrases

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

    to set up shop as a taxidermist.

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

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

  3. 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.

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.
Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The shop has a rigorous process when acquiring fur products to ensure that what they are selling is vintage, not new fur, she added.

From

Whilst most UK security guards work in shops and other businesses, his data does also signal a rise in the sort of residential work carried out by private firms, he says.

From

Online shopping continues to lead, with 41% of purchases made digitally.

From

The company took the decision to close its retail shop at its St Sampson headquarters on Saturday, as the protest was due to begin outside it.

From

Ms Horan, who runs a makeup business, said she at first "thought it was a joke" when the manager of Home Bargains in Regent Road, Salford, asked her to leave the shop on 24 May.

From

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


shoot-upshopaholic