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Glite Dictionary
tuck shop

tuck shop

4.5
A small shop in a school that sells sweets, snacks, and drinks
  • noun
  • /tʌk ʃɒp/
  • UK
translation icon : tienda de golosinas
  • The tuck shop at our school offers a variety of snacks, from candies to sandwiches.

Examples

  • I think lol... we daren't touch the tuck shop though; otherwise, he turns into B.A. Baracus! Ready to go.

    Blog text (30)

  • Bernard is the human douche nozzle who used to steal my tuck shop money when we were kids.

    Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

  • The tuck shop.

    Bran Nue Dae (2009)

  • They had been to the tuck-shop, just beyond the school gates.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • During lunch break, the students hurried to the tuck shop to buy some chocolate and chips.

  • At the front of the playground, there is a tuck shop where kids can purchase sweets and drinks.

Synonyms

candy store
vstuck shop
  • US
17 1.0

A shop that sells candy and other sweets

is smaller and often school based, offering snacks and drinks too
confectionery
vstuck shop
1 3.0

Sweet foods like chocolate and candy that you eat for pleasure

is a small school outlet rather than the sweets themselves
confectionary
vstuck shop
  • US
1 3.2

A shop that sells sweets like chocolate and toffees

is a small school outlet that also offers snacks and drinks

How Small

kiosk
32 3.3
tuck shop
  • UK
4.5
shop
∞ 1.0
supermarket
244 1.0

Surface Forms

tuck shop singular
tuck shops plural

Morphology

tuck + shop

The meaning is directly compositional: 'tuck' (sweets/snacks) + 'shop' (place to buy goods) yields a shop selling sweets and snacks. Although 'tuck' as 'sweets' is dialectally British, if a learner knows that constituent meaning the compound is immediately predictable.

Etymology

Tuck shop likely comes from the old use of tuck to mean food or a sweet treat. One common picture is children visiting a small shop to buy 'tuck' to 'tuck into', so today tuck shop means a small school shop that sells sweets and snacks.