1A shop that sells vegetables and fruit; a greengrocer. Also refers to the person who runs such a shop.
近所の八百屋で新鮮な野菜を買った。
I bought fresh vegetables at the local greengrocer.
八百屋のおじさんはいつも笑顔で声をかけてくれる。
The greengrocer always greets me with a smile.
昔はどの町にも八百屋があったが、今はスーパーで済ませる人が多い。
In the past, every town had a greengrocer, but now most people just shop at the supermarket.
母は毎朝八百屋に寄ってから料理を始める。
My mother stops by the greengrocer every morning before she starts cooking.
2(colloquial, figurative) A "jack of all trades" — someone (or something) that dabbles in many different things without specializing deeply in any of them, likened to how a greengrocer stocks a bit of everything. Rarely used this way in modern speech.
彼は法律から経営まで少しずつ手を出すが、専門がなく、まさに八百屋だ。
He dabbles in everything from law to management but has no real specialty — a real jack of all trades.