Meaning & use
shopped
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“shopped” is a form of “shop”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbintransitive
Past tense of shop: went to stores or websites to look at goods and buy things.
Grammar: Often followed by at or for: she shopped at the market.
Patterns
- shop at somewhere
- shop for something
She shopped at the farmers market every Saturday.
We shopped for winter coats all afternoon.
He shopped online because the store was closed.
verbtransitiveinformalBritish
Past tense of shop in a British informal sense: told the police or an authority about someone's wrongdoing.
Grammar: Takes a person as object: he shopped his brother to the police.
Patterns
- shop someone to someone
His own partner shopped him to the tax office.
She felt terrible after she shopped her cousin.
The gang was shopped by a former member.
Word forms
| base form | shop |
|---|---|
| third person singular | shops |
| -ing form | shopping |
Common combinations
- shopped around
- We shopped around before buying the sofa.
- shopped online
- She shopped online for presents.
- shopped for groceries
- He shopped for groceries on the way home.
- shopped at
- They shopped at the market near the station.
- shopped him to the police
- Someone shopped him to the police.
Synonyms and how they differ
- browsed
- This means looking without necessarily buying, which shopped does not require.
- purchased
- This is more formal and stresses the buying act itself.
- informed on
- For the British slang meaning, this is the neutral form and lacks the casual tone.
- grassed on
- This is stronger British slang for betraying someone to the police.
Word family
Commonly confused: shopped or chopped?
shopped vs chopped
Chopped is the past tense of chop, to cut with a blade, and sounds very similar.
Practice
We ___ around for a week before choosing the cheapest flight.
Choose one answer.
Shopped around means compared prices. Shoped is a misspelling, and chopped and stopped have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “shopped”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.