▪ I. shop, n.
(ʃɒp)
Forms: 1 sceoppa, 3 ssoppe, 4–5 schopp, 4–6 schop(p)e, shope, 4–7 shoppe (q.v. also as main entry), 5–6 schop, 5–8 shopp, 6 schoop, shoope, 5– shop; Sc. and north. 5 shapp, 5–6 chope, 6 choipp, 8 shap, 9 chop.
[ME. (c 1300) schoppe (ssoppe):—OE. sceoppa wk. masc., occurring only in Ags. Gosp. Luke xxi. 1 as rendering of gazophylacium treasury (of the temple):—prehist. *skuppan-, cogn. w. OE. scypen shippon (:—*skuppinjō) and OHG. scopf masc., porch, vestibule (MHG. schopf str. masc., schopfe wk. masc., early and dial. mod.G. schopf porch, lean-to building, cart-shed, barn, etc.), MLG. schoppe, schuppe fem., also schoppen, schuppen masc. (adopted in mod.G.) shed. The Teut. word was adopted into OF. as eschoppe, escope (mod.F. échoppe), a lean-to booth, cobbler's stall.]
1. a. A house or building where goods are made or prepared for sale and sold.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11222 Þe bowiares ssoppe hii breke & þe bowes nome echon. c 1386 Chaucer Cook's T. 52 He [a prentice] loued bet the Tauerne than the shoppe. 1420 Cov. Leet-bk. 21 William Oteley, wich kept a cart & horses for clensyng of the stretys, shuld haue quarterly of euery hall dorre jd., & euery schop ob. 1554 Edin. Burgh Rec. (1871) II. 288 The cordineris choippis. 1592 Arden of Feversham ii. i. 23 You are a gouldsmith and haue a lytle plate in your shoppe. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 315 Among the artizans whosoever is the first inventour of any new and ingenious devise is..carried..as it were in triumph from shop to shop. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 318 One man erects a shop, to which all the workmen and all the customers repair. 1859 FitzGerald Omar lix, One Evening..In that old Potter's Shop I stood alone. |
† b. banker's shop: a bank. (Originally, the shop of a goldsmith or other tradesman who practised banking.)
Obs.| 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 371 It would be..imprudent to give a prodigal son a credit in every banker's shop in London. 1796 [see banker2 1 c]. |
2. a. A building or room set apart for the sale of merchandize.
to keep shop: to exercise the calling of a shopkeeper; also
occas. to take charge of a shop in the shopkeeper's absence.
shop! an exclamation used to summon an attendant or shopkeeper.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 189 Marchaundes..Bi-souȝten him in heore schoppes to sullen heore ware. 1435 Nottingham Rec. II. 362 A nother comon graund with a draper chope on it. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 108 A yong man..went vnto a fayre; and when he had..sene many shappis & mekull chafir to sell, at þe laste he come vnto a shop þer ane old man [st]ude. 1515 Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.) II. 96 Thewe..bought..all maner of merchandise..and kept ane oppin Schoopp for Retailling of the same. 1560–70 J. Davis in Narr. Reform. (Camden) 63, I have kept the at the gramer skoole a great while, and am minded to have you to keepe the shopp. 1605 Chapman, etc. Eastw. Hoe i. A 2 b, Keepe thy shoppe, and thy shoppe will keepe thee. 1682 Dryden Medal 192 Their Shops are Dens, the Buyer is their Prey. 1712 J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northampt. 405 That Spungy Ball..call'd..in the Shops Bedeguar. 1770 Luckombe Hist. Printing 61 He first kept shop at the sign of our Lady of Piety. 1809 Kendall Trav. I. xii. 136 There are one or two other bookseller's shops..where books at least are sold. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxiii, Rob was despatched for a coach, the visitors keeping shop meanwhile. 1888 Kipling Plain Tales from Hills 242 A little wife to call ‘shorp!’ ‘shorp!’ when the door-bell rung. 1898 Punch 4 June 255/2 Millionaire (who has been shown into fashionable Artist's studio, and has been kept waiting a few minutes). ‘Shop!’ |
b. transf. and
fig.| 1450–1530 Myrr. Our Lady 139 Saynte Ambrose sayeth, that this psalme ys..a shoppe full of spyces of the holy gooste. 1600 S. Nicholson Acolastus (1876) 63 The shop where Nature gets her art to showe, Where crimson Roses, sleepe in beds of snowe. 1630 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 94 Our England is the very shop of the World, and Magazine of Natures dainties. 1677 Gilpin Dæmonol. iii. i. 6 Temptation is the Shop of Experience. |
c. The contents of a shop. In
quot. humorously.
| 1906 C. Mansfield Girl & Gods xix, A fat Jewess with a jeweller's shop on her fingers. |
d. Used to express the status or characteristics of a retail tradesman. (
Cf. 8 b.)
| 1848 Clough Amours de Voy. i. 125 Middle-class people..not wholly Pure of the taint of the shop. |
e. [Back-formation
f. shop v. 4.] An act of shopping for purchases.
colloq.| 1960 Housewife May 121/2 You should find it possible to have one big ‘shop’ a week with a small mid-week ‘shop’ for perishables. 1978 D. Murphy Place Apart ix. 198 It was a Saturday morning, when many go into the city centre to do their weekly ‘big shop’. |
f. shop-within-a-shop, a shop which functions independently within the premises of a larger store,
usu. dealing in the goods of one manufacturer.
| 1962 E. Godfrey Retail Selling & Organ. i. 5 Another practice..is that of opening a shop-within-a-shop, selling the manufacturer's goods and staffed by his employees. 1978 Country Life 5 Oct. 1054/1 Mulberry Company..makers of..high fashion accessories are opening shops-within-shops at nine Nieman Marcus stores. |
3. a. A building or room set apart and fitted up for the carrying on of some particular kind of handiwork or mechanical industry; a workshop. Now often, a building or room in a factory, appropriated to some particular department or stage of the work carried on there.
the shops: the workshops of a factory, as distinguished from the counting-house, offices, etc.
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 599/10 Operarium, a shoppe or a werkehous. 1587 Higins Mirr. Mag., Author's Induct. iii, I gate mee strayght the Printers shops unto. 1647 A. Ross Mystag. Poet. xviii. (1675) 415 [Vulcanus] his shop was in Lemnos, where..he makes Jupiter's thunder. 1728 Ramsay Robt., Richy & Sandy 68 He bad them..pap Their crazy heads into Tam Tinman's shap. 1869 F. Kohn Iron & Steel Manuf. 23 Extensive engineering and repairing shops are added to these works. c 1888 Kipling Among Railway Folk ii. Wks. 1900 XVII. 177 Four-and-twenty engines in every stage of decomposition stand in one huge shop. |
b. spec. (in full
shop of frames,
looms): a building or apartment fitted with frames or looms and rented by workers in the weaving industries.
| a 1779 ‘J. H. St. John de Crèvecœur’ Sk. 18th-Cent. Amer. (1925) 143 The truly economical farmer has always what we call a shop, that is, a house big enough to contain a loom. There..our wives can..weave. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 181/1 Other persons are renters of what is termed a ‘shop of frames’, containing eight or ten frames. 1844 G. Dodd Textile Manuf. iv. 142 There are in various parts of the town [Paisley] ‘shops’ of looms. |
† c. fig. (Chiefly after L.
officina.) A place where something is produced or elaborated, or where some operation is performed. Often said of the heart, liver, or other internal bodily organs.
| 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde i. ix. (1552) 14 b, The lyuer (which is the bloud shop, wher the bloud is engendred). 1579 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 83 The very worlde itselfe..was predestinate to be a schoolehowse and shopp of all villanyes. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. i. 43 Then gan softly feele Her feeble pulse,..Which when he felt to moue, he hoped faire To call backe life to her forsaken shop. 1668 Culpeper & Cole Barthol. Anat., Man. ii. v. 320 That the fore-parts, the shops of generation..might be neer the great Artery. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Hist. iv. iii. §7 The sanctuary was now become..a shop of tyranny. |
d. Glass-making. A team or gang of workers (see
quots.).
| 1889 Harper's New Monthly Mag. July 259/1 Generally four [glass factory workers] constitute a shop, the most skilful workman (the blower) at the head, the gatherer (a young fellow) next, and two boys, one handling moulds or tools, and the other carrying the products to the annealing oven. 1905 28th Ann. Rep. New Jersey Bureau Statistics of Labor iii. 201 A case in point..is the change from single blower method of doing work, which prevailed previous to 1870, to what is now known as the ‘shop system’; that is to say, three men now work together, two of them gathering glass and blowing the ware, while the third makes the neck smooth. 1949 P. Davis Devel. Amer. Glass Industry x. 230 The operation was performed by a three-worker shop composed of a gatherer, a blower, and a crimper. 1970 Awake (Austral.) 8 Jan. 23/1 The glassblowers function as a ‘shop’ of six or seven men. |
e. N. Amer. A schoolroom equipped for teaching the arts of the workshop; this study as a classroom discipline.
Cf. shop class, sense 9 d below.
| 1914 J. S. Taylor Handbook of Vocational Education iii. 54 The school shop now resembles the abode of the cabinet maker. Ibid. v. 65 The student learns much of what industrial life is like..in the successful operations of..the school shop. 1941 School Shop Oct. 2/2 School Shop has been established to serve shop teachers. 1948 G. O. Wilbur Industrial Arts in General Educ. ix. 127 There is some evidence which seems to indicate a close correlation between the atmosphere of the school shop and the type of learning which takes place there. 1974 J. Heller Something Happened 224 The new teachers, the old teachers,..the shop teacher, and the science teacher (he has always been leery of shop teachers and science teachers. Perhaps because they are men.) 1978 Detroit Free Press 2 Apr. 3d/1 A school..cannot prevent a girl from taking shop or a boy from taking home economics. |
4. a. colloq. or
slang. A place of business; the place where one's ordinary occupation is carried on. Also used jocularly for ‘place’.
the Shop (
Army slang): the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; also (
Austral. slang), the University of Melbourne.
| 1779 E. Gibbon Let. 15 May (1956) II. 215 So much remains to be done, that I can hardly spare a single day from the Shop. 1827 T. S. Surr Richmond II. i. 5, I hurried off with Bucks to the office, or shop, as he called it. 1841 Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. ii, At the shop, as we called it (it wasn't a shop, but as splendid an office as any in Cornhill) he was always talking about Vestris and Miss Tree. 1848 ― Van. Fair xxxiv, Senior Wrangler, indeed; that's at the other shop. 1889 Centennial Mag. II. iii. 218 It related how ‘a medical student came up to the Shop’ as a freshman, and ‘thought through exams. he would speedily pop’. 1899 Kipling Stalky 199 They're goin' up for Sandhurst, or the Shop, in less than a year. 1918 G. Wall Lett. of Airman 15, I would be quite glad to get the Shop exam results. 1964 G. Johnston My Brother Jack 260 The years at the Shop gave me nothing except a worthless B.A. and the privilege of being thrown into the University lake. 1978 G. M. Fraser Flashman at Charge 110 We treated each other decently, and weren't one jot more incompetent than this Sandhurst-and-Shop crowd. |
b. Stage slang. An engagement, a ‘berth’. Also in
gen. use (
rare).
| 1885 J. K. Jerome On Stage & Off 126 After that it was next to impossible for him to get a shop (this expression is not slang, it is a bit of local colour). 1892 Cassell's Sat. Jrnl. 28 Sept. 27/2 In the long summer months,..the artiste is frequently out of a ‘shop’, as he terms his engagement. 1922 E. Wallace Flying Fifty-Five xxx. 178 Fired, are you?..Well, what are you going to do? Get another shop? 1978 G. Mitchell Wraiths & Changelings xii. 128 He was an out-of-work actor and was very anxious to get a shop, as he called it. |
5. Matters pertaining to one's trade or profession; discourse on matters of this kind,
esp. as introduced unseasonably into general conversation; chiefly in phrase
to talk shop (see
talk v. 7).
| a 1814 Last Act i. iii. in New Brit. Theatre II. 379 Come, Tom, no shop now. 1856 Kingsley Let. May (D.), Three hours useless (I fear) speechifying and shop. 1860 C. Fox Jrnl. 28 Sept. (1972) 232 Holman Hunt..does not talk ‘shop’, but is perfectly willing to tell you anything you really wish to know of his painting. 1902 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Apr. 924 Nurses are given to talking ‘shop’.., and the gruesomeness of their ‘shop’ makes it and them a terror to their friends. |
6. slang. † a. A prison.
Obs. b. The mouth. Hence
phr. shut your shop: be silent, hold your tongue.
| a. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Shop, a prison. |
| b. 1868 J. Hartley Budget 32 (E.D.D.), Th' maister oppened sich a shop 'at aw thowt th' top ov his heead had come off. |
7. Stock Exchange. The inside influences affecting or controlling a company by the exercise of special knowledge; also a name for the South African gold market.
| 1889 Rialto 23 May (Farmer), The latest name for the South African gold market is the Shop. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 24 Nov. 15/1 The account..has not been barren of business in a good many of the departments of the House, although a good deal was of the speculative kind, engineered by the ‘shops’. |
8. Phrases.
a. With
ns.:
shop and job (
attrib.): ? formed by an association of permanent and temporary workers.
shop to shop: carried on from shop to shop in succession.
| 1891 Daily News 24 Nov. 3/3 A specially summoned ‘shop and job’ delegate meeting of carpenters and joiners was held last night. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 28 Apr. 10/1 A general inquiry and shop-to-shop visit. |
b. With verbs.
† to break up shop: to become bankrupt.
to come to the right (or wrong) shop: to apply to the right (or wrong) person in order to obtain something.
to live over the shop, to live on the premises where one works.
to mind the shop: see
mind v. 11.
to set up shop: to start a business; also
fig. to shut up shop: to close business premises; hence, to withdraw from or bring to a close any business.
to smell of the shop: (
a) to indicate the spirit characteristic of a shopkeeper; (
b) of remarks or expressions, to savour unduly of the speaker's profession or calling.
† to stick to the shop: to continue a business (in
quot. with ref. to sense 4).
| c 1570 Wyfe in Morrelles Skin 596 in Hazl. E.E.P. IV. 204 He set vp his shop with haberdash ware. 1599 Dekker Shoemakers Holiday v. ii. (1610) I 4, We may shut vp our shops, and make holiday. 1650 Vaughan Silex Scint., Faith 19 Stars shut up shop, mists pack away, And the Moon mourns. 1659 N. R. Prov., Eng. Fr. etc. 58 He that hath not his Craft let him shut up shop. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull ii. iv, And to have these Usurers transact my Debts at Coffee-Houses, and Ale Houses, as if I were going to break-up Shop. 1826 J. Bannister Let. in Sotheran's Catal. No. 12 (1899) 1, I shall ‘stick to the shop’ till I quit the stage of life. 1831 Mrs. Sherwood Henry Milner iii. xvi. 320 Provided such double dealings did not smell too much of the shop, or indicate too much of the spirit of the common tradesman. 1837 Dickens Sk. Boz, Drunkard's Death, And what does he want?..money? meat? drink? He's come to the wrong shop for that, if he does. 1838 ― Nich. Nick. iv, They have come to the right shop for morals. 1860 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. III. 95 The Royal Society might as well be invited to shut up shop, because Newton made huge discoveries. 1880 Payn Confid. Agent II. 207 To use a vulgar image, it smells of the shop. 1930 D. L. Sayers Strong Poison i. 23 ‘He's put her into a house somewhere round about, I fancy,’ said Freddy, ‘with a typewriting office to look after and live over the shop and run those comic charity stunts of his.’ 1963 A. Huxley Let. 27 Mar. (1969) 952, I..heard of his plans for an LSD institute... He may be more successful in setting up shop within the US. 1976 H. Wilson Governance of Britain iv. 83 In 1964–70 I lived in No. 10. In 1974 I decided that I did not want to live over the shop again, and I slept each night in my home in Lord North Street. |
c. Adverbial
phr. all over the shop: scattered about the place, spread out in every direction; following an erratic and undefined course; in a state of confusion.
| 1874 Hotten Slang Dict. 288 In pugilistic slang, to punish a man severely is ‘to knock him all over the shop’. 1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 July 1/2 Formerly, the authorities associated with our fisheries were ‘all over the shop’, if a vulgarism of the day be permissible. 1893 Kipling Many Invent. 109 To go sailing all over the shop never knowing where they'd fetch the land. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin xiv. 267 ‘Wagglin' about a bit,’ the coxswain answered, gazing at his compass-card... ‘She's all over the shop. Up to sou'-east one minute, an' back to south-eighty the next.’ 1926 G. B. Shaw Intell. Woman's Guide lxxi. 345 The unconventional ones are all over the shop with all sorts of opinions. 1935 F. M. Ford Let. 15 Oct. (1965) 245 He is in the greatest danger of going slack all over the shop. 1978 J. I. M. Stewart Full Term ix. 93 At one of Anthea Gender's [parties] one was substantially although not too obtrusively in the presence of grandees drawn from all over the shop. |
9. attrib. and
Comb. a. Simple attributive with various notions. (
a) Forming a part or an adjunct of a shop, as
shop-bell,
shop-counter,
shop-door,
shop-front (also
attrib. and
fig.),
shop-shutter,
shop sign,
† shop-stall,
shop-till (also
attrib. in
fig. sense). (
b) Used in a shop, as
shop-coat,
shop-ledger,
† shop-thread,
† shop-tool. (
c) Sold or kept in a shop (
† sometimes
= ‘officinal’), as
shop-goods,
† shop preparation,
shop wares. (
d) Performed or carried on in a shop; belonging to or connected with a shop; as
† shop-business,
shop-club,
† shop-craft,
shop hours,
† shop-shift. (
e) Of persons: Belonging to a shop; employed in or about a shop; as
shop-boy,
shop-clerk,
shop-folk,
shop-girl,
† shop-maid,
shop-mate,
† shop-merchant,
shop-people,
shop-wife,
shop-woman,
shop-worker.
| 1853 Mrs. Gaskell Cranford xv. 299 She..was only extricated from her dilemma by the sound of the *shop-bell. 1972 J. Thomson Not One of Us viii. 90 The tinkle of the shop bell severed the conversation and she went through to serve. |
| 1813 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. I. xv. 166 Mr. Jones's *shop boy..had told her that they were not to send any more draughts to Netherfield. 1834 H. Martineau Farrers iii. 39 Sam the shop-boy. 1903 G. B. Shaw Man & Superman iii. 132, I breathe an atmosphere of sweetness, like a confectioner's shopboy. 1977 Daily Times (Lagos) 25 Dec. 22/4 (Advt.), Drivers—Houseboys, Shopboys, Shopgirls, Housegirls. |
| 1767 S. Paterson Another Trav. II. 157 No further *shop-business could be transacted that day. |
| 1911 H. S. Harrison Queed xiii. 151 There is your public..*shop-clerks, stenographers [etc.]. 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §939 Shopclerk.., keeps record of amount of work done by piece workers for purpose of calculating cost and wages. |
| 1902 Act 2 Edw. VII , c. 21 title, An Act to prohibit compulsory Membership of Unregistered *Shop Clubs or Thrift Funds. |
| 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. x, He stands at his door in his gray *shop-coat. |
| 1822 D. Wordsworth Jrnl. 21 Sept. (1941) II. viii. 361 One a gentlemanly, middle aged man; the other rather younger, with a dash of the *shop-counter. 1972 Listener 23 Nov. 690/1 ‘Voluntary price control’..has certainly not worked over the shop counter where it was most needed. |
| 1691 Siege & Surrender of Mons iii. iii. 25 O Priest-Craft, *Shop-Craft! how do ye Effeminate The Mind of Man. |
| 1477–9 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 85 For a key to William Blases *shoppe door. a 1745 Swift Works (1766) XIII. 47 Our shop-doors will be no longer crowded with so many thieves and pick-pockets. 1832 Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. I. 277/1 Transported, he through the shop-door pops his head. 1977 A. Hunter Gently Instrumental v. 60 The hour of the lunchtime siesta when every shop door was closed. |
| 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 176 Persons who have..taken the oxalic acid, under the appalling mistake of *shopfolk serving it for Epsom salts. |
| 1835 Dickens in Evening Chron. 14 July 3/3 He..got his butcher to skewer them up on conspicuous joints in his *shop-front. 1838 ― O. Twist v, A great many of the tenements had shop-fronts. 1873 Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 2 Bound for some shop-front in the Place Vendôme. 1934 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Jan. 61/1 (title) Modern shopfront construction. 1961 D. Holbrook Eng. for Maturity 15, I never knew how much shop-front is behind—or perhaps in front of—teaching. 1975 Sunday Times 3 Aug. 24/6 The keening nature of the sounds resembles so often the seizing music one has heard in shop-front gospel churches all over America. |
| 1820 M. Edgeworth Let. 21 May (1979) 134 The fishwomen, criers and *shopgirls whose manners to customers are in general a curious mixture of the affected indifference..and of the real anxiety for your custom. 1824 W. Irving Tales Trav. ii. vii. (1848) 152 A hint to all haberdashers who have pretty daughters for shop-girls. c 1855 Geo. Eliot in J. W. Cross George Eliot's Life (1885) I. vi. 364 She looked like a shop-girl who has donned a masquerade dress impromptu. 1951 A. Baron Rosie Hogarth 176 She forced herself to speak calmly, in her precise shopgirl's voice. |
| 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2147/4 Remnants of Cloth and Serges, seeming to be *Shop-Goods. 1796 J. Woodforde Diary 2 Apr. (1929) IV. 268 Betty Cary went wth. him, to bring home some Shop Goods. 1875 [see abusefully adv.]. 1972 Morning Star 11 Oct. 1 Wage earners might receive more in their pay packets than they do at present but might pay more than they gained in the extra tax paid on shop goods. |
| 1892 Act 55 & 56 Vict. c. 62 §1 This Act may be cited as the *Shop Hours Act, 1892. 1967 Observer 14 May 28/7 Shop hours are 10–7 p.m. |
| 1782 F. Burney Cecilia ix. i. (1882) II. 281 They know no more of reasoning and arguing than they do of a *shop ledger. |
| 1659 Brome Eng. Moor iii. iii, The streight spiny *Shop-maid of St. Martins. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 343/1 Two of my *shopmates were boys. |
| 1619 Purchas Microcosmus lv. 521 The Haberdasher of Hats (the *Shop-Merchant). |
| 1854 Mrs. Gaskell North & S. xi, The pretence that makes the vulgarity of *shop-people. |
| 1723 P. Blair Pharmaco-Bot. i. 12 Lavender Cotton is but seldom us'd in *Shop-Preparations. |
| 1616 B. Jonson Devil an Ass iii. v. 4 There's a *shop-shift! plague on 'hem. |
| 1851 Thackeray Eng. Hum. v. (1853) 257 ‘Milksop!’ roars Harry Fielding, clattering at the timid *shop-shutters. 1876 Remin. Old Draper 6, I used to take down the shop shutters and put them up at night. |
| 1930 Daily Express 6 Oct. 3/5 A great flame which lit up the whole sky..and clearly illuminated the *shop signs. 1969 E. H. Pinto Treen 410/2 Trade labels on London goods sold between 1765 and 1770, are sometimes printed with the old shop sign. |
| 1614 Raleigh Hist. World v. i. §1. 312 The things performed..by our common English Souldier, leauied in haste, from following the Cart, or sitting on the *shop-stall. |
| 1635 Roxb. Ball. (1890) VII. 141 Nay, if a Shoomaker me wed, his *Shop-Thread I can spin. |
| 1835 Dickens Sk. Boz, Private Theatres, The sums extracted from the *shop-till. |
| 1599 Dekker Shoemakers Holiday iii. i. (1610) D 2 b, Master, ile stay no longer, heres a vennentorie of my *shop tooles. 1661 Knaresb. Wills (Surtees) II. 249 All my shopp tooles and instruments belonging to my trade. |
| 1877 Ruskin St. Mark's Rest i. §12 These mighty gaseous illuminations by which Venice provides for your seeing her *shop-wares by night. |
| 1863 J. Thomson Poems, Polish Insurgent viii, These rich *shopwives who stare. |
| 1753 World No. 4. 20 She enquired of the *shop-woman if she knew the gentleman. 1861 Sat. Rev. 30 Nov. 556 Plain men are quite right to do all they can for ragged boys and young shopwomen. |
| 1896 Shop Assistant Aug. 11/2 Manchester may again be counted as a stronghold of unionism amongst *shop workers, eager and ready for the fray..which shall emancipate the shop slaves from slavery. 1966 Listener 25 Aug. 264/2 Shop⁓workers' union is to join the opposition to the Government's wage freeze. |
b. Objective and
obj. genitive, as
shop-holder,
shop-shutting; locative, as
shop-bought adj.;
shop-done adj. (
nonce-use).
| 1894 S. R. Bottone Electr. Instr. 26 In *shop-bought instruments glass handles are generally seen. |
| 1888 G. M. Hopkins Let. 1 May (1956) 291, I may be able to send you one [sc. a photograph] of me, not *shop-done but artistically better. |
| 14.. Mercers' Oath in Blades Caxton (1882) 146 Vnto suche tyme as that ye have ben..for *shopholder amytted sworn and entred. |
| 1880 A. M{supc}Kay Hist. Kilmarnock (ed. 4) 247 He was a friend to the system of early *shop-shutting. |
c. Applied to food, goods, etc., produced commercially for sale, as (often unfavourably) opposed to home-made or made to order, as
shop-bread,
shop cake, etc.; shop-bought.
| 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede II. i. xx. 95 A cloth made of homespun linen... None of your bleached ‘shop-rag’ that would wear into holes in no time. 1876 C. M. Yonge Three Brides II. i. 304 I'm sent for one of Herbert's shirts... I believe their hearts would break outright if he took to shop ones. 1928 E. G. Millar Eng. Illuminated MSS. of XIVth & XVth Cent. iii. 38 Sarum Horae... These are seldom of more than mediocre quality, and are merely ‘shop’ copies. 1949 D. Smith I capture Castle xii. 203, I had..two slices of cake (real shop cake) and milk. 1957 J. Braine Room at Top xxi. 180 It must have seemed that she was offering me a good home-cooked dinner and that I was rejecting it in favour of a slice of chalky shop bread spread with factory-made meat paste. 1975 Times 22 Nov. 11/6 As late as the 1930s the better-off continued to look down on those who..spread ‘shop’ jam on their bread. 1978 D. Murphy Place Apart xi. 229 She brought out a slice of Christmas cake... ‘It's only shop,’ she apologised. |
d. Special comb.:
shop assistant, a salesman or saleswoman in a retail shop or store;
shop-bill = shop-card;
shop-book, a shopkeeper's or mechanic's account book;
spec. (
U.S.) see
quot. 1856;
shop-breaker, a burglar who breaks into a shop;
shop-breaking, the offence committed by a shop-breaker;
† shop-bulk [
bulk n.2], a shop-front;
shop-card, a written or printed advertisement of the contents of a shop;
shop class N. Amer., a class in which the arts of the workshop are taught (
cf. sense 3 e above);
† shop-cloth, a cloth laid upon the boards of a butcher's stall;
shop committee U.S. (see
quot. 1923);
† shop-conscience, a venal conscience;
shopcraft N. Amer., an association of railway employees working in repair shops, etc.;
† shop-divine nonce-wd., a divine who keeps a stock of approved spiritual medicines;
shop-dropper local Austral. colloq. (see
quot. 1957) (
cf. dropper 1 d);
† shop dust, the refuse of a shop;
† shop-fellow, an intimate;
shop-finish, the professional finish of an article produced in a commercial workshop (sometimes depreciatory); also
transf.; hence
shop-finished ppl. a.;
shop-fitting, (
a)
pl., the fitments (as counters and shelves) with which a shop is equipped; (
b) the action or process of fitting out a shop with these; hence
shop-fitter;
shop-gaze v. intr., to window-shop;
shop-house, in
S.E. Asia, a shop opening on to the pavement and also used as the residence of the proprietor;
† shop-light, ? a fan-light, a window giving entrance to light from the top of a room or building;
shop-like a.,
† (
a) venal, meretricious; (
b) resembling a shop;
shop-list = shop-card;
† shop-magistral = shop-medicine;
shop-mark, a private mark placed by a dealer upon his goods;
† shop-medicine, an officinal medicine;
† shop-note, a credit note exchangeable for goods at a shop;
† shop-pad [
pad n.2 3], a thief who steals from a shop;
† shop-price, a wage paid to a permanently engaged worker in a factory or workshop;
† shop-purger, see
shop-medicine;
† shop-rid a. [after
bed-rid], worn out by lying in a shop;
† shop-slop, used contemptuously for
shop-medicine;
shop-soiled a., depreciated in value and appearance by being exposed for sale in a shop; also
fig.;
shop steward, a person elected by his or her fellow-workers in a factory, etc., or a branch of it as their spokesman on conditions of work, etc.;
shop-talk, see sense 5;
shop-thief,
† (
a) a dealer who carries on his business dishonestly; (
b) a thief who steals from a shop;
shop-ticket = shop-note;
shop-walker, an assistant exercising general supervision over a department of a shop; an attendant who directs customers to that part of the premises where the goods they wish to inspect or purchase are to be found; so
shop-walk v. intr., to act as a shop-walker;
shop-work, work done in a shop or workshop;
shop-worn a. = shop-soiled, (
orig. U.S.) also
fig. See also
shop-board, etc.
| 1880 Girl's Own Paper 25 Sept. 612/1 There are two great enemies for the *shop assistant—the severe shop⁓walker..and the inconsiderate lady-customer. 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §775 Shop assistant.., serves customers with goods in retail shop or store, makes out bill or docket. 1977 D. James Spy at Evening xii. 86 They were mostly school kids..or young shop assistants and working boys. |
| 1780 Mirror No. 89 Much of the employment a shop⁓keeper gets, is owing to the attraction of a happy-fancied sign, advertisement, or *shop-bill. 1890 N. & Q. Ser. vii. IX. 432 The late Mr. Anderson..had collected a great number of engraved shop-bills as specimens of the engraver's art. |
| 1609–10 Act 7 Jas. I, c. 12 §1 No Tradesman..shall..be allowed..to give his *Shoppbooke in Evidence in any Accion for any Money due for Wares [etc.]. 1798 Hutton Course Math. (1807) II. 251 My plumber has set me up a cistern, and his shop-book being burnt, he has no means of bringing in the charge. 1856 Bouvier Amer. Law Dict. (ed. 6), Shop Book, a book in which a merchant, mechanic, or other person, makes original entries of goods sold or work done. |
| 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 424 Directarii..night-theeues: *shopbreakers: robbers by night. 1907 Daily Chron. 29 Nov. 5/5 They found wounds upon his body corresponding with the blows delivered upon the shop breaker. |
| 1906 Ibid. 23 Jan. 6/2 A charge of *shop⁓breaking. |
| 1586 Lupton 1000 Notable Things (1675) 288 Dr. Butler..went close to the *shopbulks to keep himself drie. |
| a 1843 Southey Comm.-pl. Bk. (1851) IV. 258/1 A song or sonnet on an upholsterer's *shop card. |
| 1948 G. O. Wilbur Industrial Arts in General Educ. xiv. 212 If students go home enthusiastic about the work in their *shop classes, a general approval of the whole school program by the parents is apt to follow. 1962 A. Lurie Love & Friendship iv. 70 On the last day of school he would take home the present he had made for his mother in shop class. 1978 M. Puzo Fools Die xxxix. 435 In the shop class of the asylum school I made myself such a hat. |
| 1501 Maldon (Essex) Court-Rolls Bundle 60 No. 4 b, Attachiatus est per xiiii pecias beff et mete precii xvii d. et 1 *shopcloth in custodia servientis. |
| 1908 Mod. Business Aug. 69/1 With a good *shop committee the men will not be afraid to ventilate their grievances. 1923 J. D. Hackett Labor Terms in Managem. Engin. May 344/2 Shop Committee, a committee appointed by members of a works committee for the consideration of some special labor problem. 1954 C. E. Dankert Introd. Labor x. 187 In many labor organizations there are structural units smaller than, and subordinate to, the locals. These are the so-called shop committees, which are under the leadership of shop stewards. 1973 S. Aronowitz in G. Hunnius et al. Workers' Control i. 105 The impulse to dual forms of struggle—shop committees, wild cat strikes, steward movements—may become important in the labor movements of the future. |
| 1683 Dryden Dk. Guise i. i, *Shop-Consciences, of Proof against an Oath. |
| 1919 W. Hines Let. 10 Nov. in Official Proc. 5th Biennial Convention Railway Employees Dept. Amer. Fed. Labor (1920) 133 The fullest cooperation of..the national officers of the *Shop Crafts organizations. 1942 H. E. Jones Wages & Labor Relations in Railroad Industry 1900–1941 14 For shop craft employees, annual compensation stood at $1,754 in 1922. 1973 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 7 Sept. 1/4 Latest union flareup occurred..as members of Canadian National Railways shopcraft unions walked off the job. |
| 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. II. (1673) 22 Some doubt there is that his *Shop-Divines have not the right Composition of that Medicine. |
| 1957 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 26 Nov. 2 ‘*Shop-droppers’ are truck owners who buy large quantities of fruit and vegetables at the market and sell them to shopkeepers in and around Brisbane. 1967 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 12 Feb. 18 The suppliers—known as ‘shop-droppers’—have been operating for several years. |
| 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse A 4 b, Greedinesse..busies himselfe..in syuing of Muck-hills and *shop-dust. |
| 1579 J. Northbrooke Dicing To Rdr. A 4, A good companion and a *shopfellowe. |
| 1923 New Statesman 6 Oct. 738/1 They [sc. early plays by Somerset Maugham] had the handy compactness, *shop-finish and alluring shinyness of a new dressing-case. 1931 R. Fry in W. Rose Outl. Mod. Knowl. 914 This last perfection of finish, for which craftsmen have adopted the excellent term ‘shop-finish’. 1938 R. G. Collingwood Princ. Art xv. 329 The slick shop-finish of a ready-made article. |
| 1932 R. Fry Characteristics French Art ii. 43 Elsheimer's pictures are so tight, so horribly *shop-finished and over-polished. |
| 1885 List of Subscribers, Classified (United Telephone Co.) (ed. 6) 188 (heading) *Shop fitters. 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §483 Shop fitter, receives wooden parts or sections of counters, desks,..and other shop-fittings.. fits and joins these parts or sections together. 1951 A. Baron Rosie Hogarth 13 Fred was an engineer and Jack a shopfitter by trade. 1978 Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. (Parade Suppl.) 21/1 The 33 indicted..included..a shopfitter. |
| 1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products 342 *Shop-fittings, the counters, desks, shelves, gas-burners, and other fixtures of a shop. 1911 Rep. Labour & Soc. Cond. Germany III. vi–vii. 29 The building and shopfitting trade. 1939 C. Vernon Sweet Shop xii. xlix. 178 We give in this chapter some general hints on shop fitting and decoration. 1959 R. Buckner Design for Selling ii. 14 So many bakers are altering their shop fittings to comply with the hygiene regulations. 1977 Centuryan (Office Cleaning Services) Christmas 2/4 The firm was concentrating too much on shopfitting for one client. |
| 1876 L. Troubridge Life amongst Troubridges (1966) 143 Shopped the whole morning—flanéed down Regent Street, *shop-gazing with true country zeal. 1946 S. Spender European Witness 21 Crowds who a few years ago were shop-gazing in their city. |
| 1949 Malayan Pictorial Observer Aug. 9 *Shop⁓houses line the main street. 1957 G. W. Skinner Chinese Society in Thailand iii. 107 By the 1880's..the junk bazaar was..a thing of the past... The former floating population of Chinese tradesmen moved to the two-story shop-houses built in rows along the new streets. 1966 ‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive i. 7 Where the trishaw had dropped me..was a narrow street of shop-houses. 1978 L. Heren Growing up on The Times v. 182 The shophouse had four small rooms. The front room, or shop, was given over to a dispensary... Behind were two small bedrooms and a kitchen. |
| 1631 A. Townshend Alb. Tri. Poems & Masks (1912) 65 Is not your studdy backward? with a *shop-light in it, where one can see nothing but the skye? |
| 1636 B. Jonson Discov. (1640) 92 Some love any Strumpet (be shee never so *shop⁓like, or meritorious) in good clothes. 1849 Rock Ch. Fathers I. 222 A church is built N. and S. merely for the sake of showing itself well, shoplike, from the street. |
| 1780 Mirror No. 89, I..am resolved to bestow more than common pains in furnishing out as elegant a *shop-list as possible. |
| 1665 Nedham Med. Medicinæ 312 Treacle-water, a few Syrups, and 1 or 2 *Shop-Magistrals. |
| 1592 Act 35 Eliz. c. 10 §1 That eche Weaver should weave his *Shopmarke in eche Dozen. 1801 M. Edgeworth Pop. Tales, Contrast Tales 1832 V. 120 His sisters unpacked them..to set shop-marks upon each article. |
| 1756 Law Lett. Important Subj. 170 If your physician be for your purpose, he will not load you with *shop-medicines. |
| 1740 W. Douglass Disc. 23 The Shopkeepers giving a great Advance in Consideration of a very long Credit, and to be drawn out in *Shop Notes. |
| 1705 Dunton Life & Errors (1818) I. vii. 261, I verily think, without restitution, such *shop-pads cannot be saved. |
| 1838 in Rep. Comm. Hand-loom Weavers iv. (1840) 334 The few under-journeymen who..receive from them the full *shop⁓price for their labour. |
| 1665 Nedham Med. Medicinæ 89 Nor is it thus only with the *Shop-purgers, but even by the ordinary Diet-Drinks used in Families. |
| c 1610 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster v. i, May their false lights..discover presses, holes, stains, and oldness in their Stuffs, and make them *shop-rid. |
| 1706 E. Baynard Cold Baths ii. 267 Swallowing Bolus upon Bolus, together with a Scavengers Cart full of all their other *Shop-slops. |
| 1898 Cycling 11 In the fall of the year ‘*shop-soiled’ machines are often to be bought for a couple of pounds or so less than at the beginning of the season. 1926 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (1935) v. lix. 333 Beyrout was the door of Syria, a chromatic Levantine screen through which cheap or shop-soiled foreign influences entered. 1927 M. Arlen Young Men in Love ii. 137 Always together... That shop-soiled man and the tall girl with the curly gleaming hair. 1977 J. Wainwright Day of Peppercorn Kill 33 Not the love of a wife... A shop-soiled love—which.. he'd reject. |
| 1904 Rules Amalg. Soc. Engineers 46 Committees may also appoint *shop-stewards to..keep the committee posted with all events occurring in the various shops. 1928 Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inquiry.) iii. xviii. 226 The shop-steward movement, which reached such magnitude during the War, was essentially an attempt to base the struggle for better conditions upon the natural unit of the factory. 1950 A. P. Herbert Independent Member 251 At Short's works at Rochester..the shop-stewards threatened a strike. a 1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 478 This is the first big event of this election campaign—the revelation of a so-called kangaroo trial by shop stewards at the B.M.C. works. |
| 1881 Scribner's Monthly XXII. 864/2 The continual *shop⁓talk of three passengers opposite. 1922 S. Lewis Babbitt x. 143 The shop⁓talk roused Paul Riesling... He was..a very able salesman. 1971 D. E. Westlake I gave at Office 76, I must have given her my complete life story..and virtually tons of shoptalk about my job. |
| 1692 T. Watson Body Divin. 377 The *Shop-Thief, he steals in selling [etc.]. 1913 Everyman 21 Feb. 582/2 The spies and detectives..watch not only for the shop-thief but seek to catch the poor assistant tripping. |
| 1867 Rep. Paris Univ. Exhib. (1868) VI. 272 Are there any sources of profit besides the annual dividend? e.g. by *shop tickets or other advantages of a similar kind. |
| 1905 H. G. Wells Kipps i. vi. 135 Buggins, whose place it was to *shopwalk while Carshot served, shopwalked with quite unparallelled dignity. |
| 1825 in A. Nicoll Hist. Eng. Drama 1660–1900 (1959) VI. 459 (title of play) The *shop-walker. 1861 Sala Dutch Pict. xv. 235 A sort of shop-walker, whose duty it was to pace the galleries. 1896 Wells Wheels of Chance ii. 13 The shop-walker brings up parallel to the counter. |
| 1899 W. James Talks to Teachers v. 35 Laboratory work and *shop work engender a habit of observation,..a knowledge of the difference between accuracy and vagueness. 1932 O. E. Saunders Hist. Eng. Art in Middle Ages xiii. 157 Countless lesser Books of Hours were turned out all through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries for private patrons, but they represent mere shop-work. 1974 J. Burnett Useful Toil ii. 141 Girls could now go into shop work, into the new light factory trades and into..clerical work. |
| 1838 Amer. Comic All-I-Make for 1839 7 The piece of goods got kinder *shop worn, and the old man thought he'd never get her off his hands. 1849 Thoreau Week Concord Riv. 220 He is even envied by his shop⁓worn neighbours. 1871 P. T. Barnum Struggles & Triumphs 40 A large quantity of tin ware which had been in the shop for years and was considerably ‘shop-worn’. 1901 N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 168 One can get shop-worn kings for less. 1909 H. A. Vachell Paladin 112 Peace with honour..has become slightly shop-worn. |
Add:
[3.] f. [Prob. inferred from such expressions as
closed shop,
open shop, where the sense is essentially 3 a.] A group of trade union members within a particular place of employment.
| 1956 Cine Technician May 75/2 The Associated Rediffusion Shop at Wembley was now very well organised. Mr. A. Shine is their Shop Steward and the first lot of subscriptions have been received in the office. We have in this shop approximately 80 per cent membership. 1958 ACTT Ann. Rep. 1957–58 in P. Seglow Trade Unionism in Television (1978) v. 101, 12 highly organised union shops. 1977 Film & Television Technician Mar. 9/1 (caption) Well to the fore in the massive demonstration for a new Hospital in Hemel Hempstead, were local ACTT members from the Kodak Shop. 1984 Broadcast 7 Dec. 5/1 The 180 members of the shop met on Wednesday morning to discuss the station's 5{pcnt} pay offer. |
▪ II. shop, v. (
ʃɒp)
[f. shop n.] 1. a. trans. To shut up (a person), to imprison. Of an informer, evidence, etc.: To cause to be imprisoned, to ‘get (a person) into trouble’. Also with
up. Now only
slang or
dial.| 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. iv. 52 b, [They] onely shopped vp some of the Catholikes within their owne house. 1678 [? Winstanley] Four for a Penny 8 A main part of his Office [a bum-bailiff's] is to swear and bluster at their trembling Prisoners, and cry, Confound us, why do we wait? Let's Shop him! 1701 Sedley Grumbler iii. i, He talks like a fool, and was presently shopp'd up. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 11 June (1815) 182 He did not at all doubt but that they would find matter enough to shop the evidence himself before the next jail-delivery. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xvi, It was Bartlemy time when I was shopped. 1899 Tit-Bits 20 May 150/1 [He] volunteered for a fiver to ‘shop’ his pals. |
| refl. 1548 Patten Exped. Scot. B viij, Thei had likewise shopt vp themselfes in y⊇ highest of their house. |
b. To dismiss (a person) from a position or post.
rare.
| 1864 Hotten Slang Dict. 228 Shop, to discharge a shopman. 1915 H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap xvii. 308, I would have shopped the fellow in an instant,..had it been at any other time. He was most impertinent. |
† 2. To instal in a shop as a merchant.
nonce-use.
| 1652 Benlowes Theoph. x. xx, Where Prideis coacht, Fraud shopt and Taverns drown the Soul. |
3. To bring or take (an article) to a shop; to expose for sale in a shop.
| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. iii. 102/2 Shop the Candles, is to hang them by pounds, dozens, two or three on the two ends of a strong staff, and so a Man..brings them to the place where they are to be. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. I. xviii. 206 When our Goods are in a Readiness, we send them to the accustomed Place to be shopt. 1890 Charity Organis. Rev. Jan. 14, I ask my man whether he will have..2s., when he ‘shops’ the boots [etc.]. |
4. a. intr. To visit a shop or shops for the purpose of making purchases, or examining the contents. Also
transf.| 1764 Zeal Seasonable Alarm London 13 note, Ladies are said to go a Shoping, when, in the Forenoon, sick of themselves, they order the Coach, and driving from Shop to Shop [etc.]. 1799 Monthly Rev. XXX. 265 Venus and all the little loves, A shopping went for ring and gloves. 1845 Disraeli Sybil vi. iv, I thought Joan was going with you, and that you would be shopping. 1886 C. E. Pascoe Lond. To-day xxxii. (ed. 3) 290 Shopping, or making pretence to shop. 1951 M. McCarthy in Holiday May 47/2 He determined to attach his name to some lasting benevolent enterprise and settled on woman's education after cautious shopping and advice-seeking. 1973 Times 27 Feb. 16/3 The National Portrait Gallery went shopping at Phillips sale room yesterday. |
b. With
around. To visit different shops examining the prices of comparable goods offered for sale before making a purchase; to make purchases at different shops according to which offers the best price. Freq.
transf. and
fig.| 1922 Management Engineering Feb. 89/1 During the war, although orders greatly exceeded production, absenteeism increased. Men took days off to ‘shop around’, knowing that if unsuccessful they would be welcomed back. 1936 D. Powell Turn, Magic Wheel ii. 195 Can't you just see those little embryos shopping around for security. 1948 Economist 31 July 171/2 It is impossible to shop around for cheaper raw materials. 1952 A. Huxley Let. c 20 July (1969) 647 Since success depends on a satisfactory relation between the hypnotised person and the operator you must be prepared to ‘shop around’ until you find someone sympathetic as well as skilful. 1960 W. Taplin Advertising iv. 83 We have..noticed the..case..of the people who buy advertised products and in effect accept the advertiser's persuasion rather than spend time ‘shopping around’. 1976 J. I. M. Stewart Memorial Service ii. 35 It's usual to shop around a little. To send in a list of three or four colleges. |
c. trans. To shop at (a store); to examine goods on sale in (a shop).
N. Amer.| 1955 in H. Galinsky Amerikanisches und Britisches Englisch (1957) 49 Shop the store that gives you more. 1961 Ford Times Mar. 28 (heading) Shopping the southern roadside. 1974 S. Marcus Minding Store iv. 85 One man who had shopped the entire store complained that he hadn't found what he was looking for. 1980 ‘E. McBain’ Ghosts ii. 18 Maybe all the burglars..were out shopping the department stores. |
5. trans. To give (a person) a situation, to give (a person) work.
| 1808 Rules of Journeymen, Hat-Makers & Finishers of Stockport in A. Aspinall Early Eng. Trade Unions (1949) iv. 110 And when any person comes wishing to be asked for, the person that goes and asks for him, to take his ticket, and in case that man is shopped, he must leave his ticket at the place he is shopped. 1855 [Burn] Autobiog. Beggar-boy 119, I travelled 1400 miles upon this occasion ere I could obtain work. At last I got shopped in Sherborne, in Dorsetshire. 1867 All Year Round 13 July 56/1 There are many men who would regard themselves as ingrates, were they not to celebrate their being ‘shopped’, after having been out of collar, by a ‘spree’. |
▪ III. shop obs. form of
chop v.
1| 1591 R. Bruce Serm. Edin. i. B 5, There are verie few that haue their heart free when the Lord shoppeth. |