shop

views updated

shop / shäp/ • n. 1. a building or part of a building where goods or services are sold; a store: a card shop a barber shop. ∎  [in sing.] inf. an act of going shopping: she slogged her way around the supermarket doing the weekly shop.2. a place where things are manufactured or repaired; a workshop: an auto repair shop. ∎  a room or department in a factory where a particular stage of production is carried out: the machine shop. ∎  short for shop class: I got an A in shop last year. ∎  a profession, trade, business, etc., esp. as a subject of conversation: when mathematicians talk shop, they do it at the blackboard.• v. (shopped, shop·ping) [intr.] go to a store or stores to buy goods: she shopped for groceries twice a week. ∎  (shop around) look for the best available price or rate for something: they shopped around for cheaper food. ∎ short for window-shop.PHRASES: close (or shut) up shop cease business or operation, either temporarily or permanently: the cafes must shut up shop by July 22. ∎ inf. stop some activity: rather than close up shop, the team has returned to fighting trim.set up shop establish oneself in a business: he set up shop as a hairdresser in Soho.

More From encyclopedia.com