Idiom:  To Shop Around; used as a verb.

First Example:  Tom had shopped
around at several stores before finding the refrigerator he wanted.  After comparing prices at a few places, he
found that the appliance store by his house had the cheapest price.

Meaning:  To Shop Around means to shop at
different stores to find what you want at the best price.  In this example, this person had gone to
several stores to compare the price for the refrigerator he wanted.  This idiom can apply to any situation when a
person is looking for the best price for a particular item.  The idiom is used as verb in this example.

Here is another example:

Second Example:  Before you decide to buy a new car, you should
always shop around at several car
dealerships first.  Most first time car
buyers tend to experience “buyer’s remorse” when they find out that they could
have bought the same car at a lower price.

Meaning:  In
this case, the idiom, Shop Around, is
used to express the advice that one should research the cost of buying a big
priced item before buying it right away. 
Most people tend to regret buying an item if they find out that they
could have bought it at a lower price.  In
this example, the idiom is being used as a verb when giving
recommendations/suggestions.

This idiom is from the book “Everyday Idioms – Book One”
which is used in the LSI Intermediate Conversation Class.

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