# shop

Pronunciation: say "SHOP" US /ʃɑp/, UK /ʃɒp/

## Noun

1. A business that sells goods or services to the public, whether a physical location or an online one.
   - Simple: A place or website where you can buy things or pay for services, like food or a haircut.
   - _The corner shop stocks everything from groceries to greeting cards._
   - _Many independent shops now run online stores alongside their physical premises._
3. A place where things are made or repaired; a workshop, including a garage where vehicles are serviced.
   - Simple: A place where things are made or fixed, such as a garage that repairs cars.
   - _The blacksmith's shop was filled with the smell of hot metal._
   - _Apprentices learn their trade in small shops across the region._
4. A regular trip to buy food and household supplies; also, the items bought on such a trip. *(UK)*
   - Simple: A regular trip to buy food and things for the home, or the things you buy on it.
   - _On Sunday mornings we do a big shop so the fridge is full for the week._
   - _A quick shop for milk and bread turned into an hour at the supermarket._
6. A group of school classes that teach practical, vocational skills such as woodworking or metalworking. *(US, Canada)*
   - Simple: School classes that teach hands-on skills like woodworking or metalworking.
   - _She signed up for shop to learn how to weld._
   - _Many students discover a love of carpentry in high school shop._
5. A person's workplace or office, surviving mainly in expressions such as shop talk, closed shop, and shop floor.
   - Simple: The place where someone works, used mostly in phrases like shop talk, closed shop, and shop floor.
   - _Decisions made at head office rarely match what actually happens on the shop floor._
   - _The closed shop required all employees to join the union._
7. Conversation about business or professional affairs.
   - Simple: Talk about work or business matters.
   - _At dinner, the two doctors talked shop while everyone else got bored._
   - _He hates it when his colleagues talk shop at the dinner table._

## Verb

2. To look at goods in stores, catalogs or on websites, especially with the intention of buying, often comparing several sellers.
   - Simple: To look at things in stores or online, usually because you want to buy them.
   - _They prefer to shop early to avoid the holiday crowds._
   - _Shopping for groceries takes her about an hour each week._
8. To digitally edit or alter a photograph using image-editing software. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To change a picture using a computer.
   - _Magazines often shop cover images to smooth skin and brighten colors._
   - _The activist accused the campaign of shopping the photo to exaggerate the crowd._
9. To assess a store or business by posing as an ordinary customer, as a mystery shopper does. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To visit a store secretly to check how good its service is.
   - _Head office hired auditors to shop every franchise before the holidays._
   - _The chain pays people to shop its stores and report on how staff treat customers._
10. To report someone's crimes or whereabouts to the police or other authority. *(slang, UK)*
   - Simple: To tell the police about someone who has broken the law.
   - _One of the gang shopped the others to detectives for a lighter sentence._
   - _Loyalty meant they would never shop a fellow member to the authorities._

## Interjection

11. Called out by a customer to summon a shop assistant when none is in attendance. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Called out to get a store worker's attention when no one is serving you.
   - _"Shop!" the gentleman cried, tapping his cane on the floorboards._
   - _She waited at the empty counter, then ventured a hesitant "Shop!"_

## Verb

12. To dismiss someone from their job. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To make someone leave their job.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To put someone behind bars; to imprison a person.

## Origin

From Middle English shoppe, from Old English sċoppa ("shed, booth, stall, shop"), going back through Proto-Germanic *skupp- ("barn, shed") to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to bend, curve, or vault." It is related to Dutch schop, German Schuppen ("shed"), and French échoppe ("booth, shop"). The verb is formed from the noun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/shop (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).