shut

[ shuht ]

verb (used with object)

, shut, shut·ting.

1. to put (a door, cover, etc.) in position to close or obstruct.

   Antonyms: open

2. to close the doors of (often followed by up ):

   to shut up a shop for the night.

3. to close (something) by bringing together or folding its parts:

   Shut your book. Shut the window!

4. to confine; enclose:

   to shut a bird into a cage.

   Synonyms: cage, imprison, jail

5. to bar; exclude:

   They shut him from their circle.

   Synonyms: prohibit

6. to cause (a factory, school, etc.) to end or suspend operations, services, or business activity:

   He shut his store, sold his house, and moved away.

   We're shutting the office for two weeks in June.

7. to bolt; bar.

verb (used without object)

, shut, shut·ting.

1. to become shut or closed; close.

adjective

1. closed; fastened up:

   a shut door.

2. Phonetics. checked ( def 4 ).

noun

1. the act or time of shutting or closing.
2. the line where two pieces of welded metal are united.

verb phrase

1. 1. to stop the passage of (water, traffic, electricity, etc.); close off.
   2. to isolate; separate:

      an outpost almost completely shut off from civilization.

2. 1. to enclose.
   2. to confine, as from illness:

      She broke her leg in a fall and has been shut in for several weeks.

3. 1. to imprison; confine.
   2. to close entirely.
   3. Informal. to stop talking; become silent (often used as a rude command):

      Just sit down and shut up! I thought the neighbors would never shut up and let me sleep.

   4. Informal. to stop (someone) from talking; silence.
   5. Informal. (used to express disbelief or astonishment):

      You dated her in high school? Shut up!

4. 1. to close, especially temporarily; end or suspend operations, services, or business activity.
   2. to stop operating or stop the operation of (a machine):

      Did you remember to shut down your computer?

   3. Also shut down onupon. Informal. to hinder; check; stop from doing or saying something:

      He appeared on the talk show to shut down his critics.

   4. Informal. to defeat or outdo:

      The team was able to shut down the offense.

   5. to settle over a place so as to envelop or darken it:

      The fog shut down rapidly.

5. Informal. free of; rid of:

   He wished he were shut of all his debts.

6. 1. to keep from entering; exclude.
   2. to hide from view.
   3. to prevent (an opponent or opposing team) from scoring, as in a game of baseball.

shut

/ ʃʌt /

verb

1. to move (something) so as to cover an aperture; close

   to shut a door

2. to close (something) by bringing together the parts

   to shut a book

3. troften foll byup to close or lock the doors of

   to shut up a house

4. tr; foll by in, out, etc to confine, enclose, or exclude

   to shut a child in a room

5. tr to prevent (a business, etc) from operating
6. shut one's eyes to
   to ignore deliberately
7. shut the door on
   1. to refuse to think about
   2. to render impossible

adjective

1. closed or fastened

noun

1. the act or time of shutting
2. the line along which pieces of metal are welded
3. get shut of or get shot of slang.
   to get rid of

Other Words From

• half-shut adjective
• re·shut verb reshut reshutting
• un·shut adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shut¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English s(c)hutten, s(c)hetten, s(c)hitten Old English scyttan “to bolt (a door)”; akin to shoot ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of shut¹

Old English scyttan; related to Old Frisian sketta to shut in, Middle Dutch schutten to obstruct

Idioms and Phrases

• close (shut) down
• close (shut) one's eyes to
• close (shut) the door on
• keep one's mouth shut
• open and shut case
• put up or shut up

Synonym Study

See close.

Example Sentences

On Wednesday, nearly 100 schools and nurseries were shut in Scotland as well as almost 50 in Wales and at least 30 in England due to frosty conditions.

From BBC

Japan itself shut down all of its reactors in the immediate aftermath, and only 12 have since restarted.

From BBC

The station was evacuated and remains closed, while nearby Killermont Street was shut to traffic and people were urged to avoid the area.

From BBC

"Our voices are often shut out of the COP29 negotiating rooms. Which means we will get outcomes that don’t reflect the lived realities of women in climate-hit areas," she said.

From BBC

On the other hand, if researchers shut this circuit off, breathing rates went up, and the mice became more anxious.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• bar
• lock
• push
• seal