DictionaryAI

shopping

USSHAH-ping/ˈʃɑpɪŋ/UKSHO-ping/ˈʃɒpɪŋ/

5 meanings of shopping

Practice

  1. 1
    act of buyingnoununcountable
    The activity of buying goods or services, or looking for suitable ones to buy.

    The store stays open late to make evening shopping easier.

    Comparison shopping helped her find the best price on the laptop.

    UsageCommon patterns: go shopping (not incorrect: go to shopping), do the shopping, do some shopping.

    Similarbuying, purchasing

    Note

    Mostly a mass noun for the activity, it also appears in phrases such as online shopping and comparison shopping. Letitia Elizabeth Landon's Ethel Churchill (1837) ends a hard day's shopping with arms full of bargains, and you can begin or finish your shopping, as Harriet W. Daly did in 1887. What ends up in the bags is the goods themselves.

  2. 2
    places to buynoununcountable
    The stores, facilities, and goods that an area offers to people who want to buy things.

    Tourists come to the district for its excellent shopping and dining.

    The new development promises upscale shopping within walking distance of homes.

    UsageUsed without a, often after a word of praise: great shopping, the best shopping in the region.

    Similarretail, stores

  3. 3
    buying (doing now)verb
    Present participle of shop.

    They are shopping for a new car this weekend.

    He spent the morning shopping at the farmers market.

    UsageYou are shopping for what you want to buy and shopping at or in a store: shopping for a new car.

    Note

    It carries every meaning of the verb, not just buying. In British slang, shopping a friend means informing on them, and online, shopping a photo means editing it digitally.

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    bought goodsnounUKuncountable
    Goods that have recently been bought, especially groceries.

    He unpacked the shopping onto the kitchen counter.

    The shopping was heavy, so she made two trips from the car.

    UsageCounted by its containers: three bags of shopping (not incorrect: three shoppings); you unpack or put away the shopping.

    Similargroceries, purchases

    Note

    Here the word names the result of the activity rather than the activity itself: what comes home in the bags. This use is chiefly British, and the goods are usually groceries, so the shopping gets carried in from the car and put away before the milk goes bad.

  2. 5
    noun
    The placement of equipment, especially a locomotive, in a workshop for major overhaul.

shopping is a form of shop

shop, verb: To look at goods in stores, catalogs or on websites, especially with the intention of buying, often comparing several sellers. Full entry

Forms
shopshops he/she/itshopping -ing formshopped past tense, past participle
Spelling
shop → shopping: double the p, add -ing

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of shopping apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Formed from "shop" combined with the suffix "-ing".

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 1 fact