shut

American  

[shuht] / ʃʌt /

verb (used with object)

shut, shutting

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

   Antonyms:

   open

2. to close the doors of (often followed byup ).

   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, shutting

1. to become shut or closed; close.

adjective

1. closed; fastened up.

   a shut door.

2. Phonetics.  checked.

noun

1. the act or time of shutting or closing.

2. the line where two pieces of welded metal are united.

verb phrase

1. shut off

   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. shut in

   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. shut up

   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. shut down

   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. Informal.  Also shut down onupon 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. shut of  free of; rid of.

   He wished he were shut of all his debts.

6. shut out

   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 British  

/ 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. 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. to ignore deliberately

7. 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. slang  to get rid of

shut Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing shut

• 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

---

Related Words

See close.

Other Word Forms

• half-shut adjective
• reshut verbreshut, reshutting
• unshut adjective

Etymology

Origin of shut

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

Example Sentences

Lithuania shut its border with Belarus in October after dozens of balloons loaded with illegal cigarettes entered its airspace, forcing several airports to close and inflaming tensions between the two countries.

From Barron's

"It's almost palpably eager to please – and if you don't welcome it right into your heart, you might want to check there's not some marmalade gumming it shut."

From BBC

A valve designed to drain water from the plant’s fuel rods stuck open, yet operators mistakenly shut down water pumps, causing a partial meltdown.

From The Wall Street Journal

Police are now moving to block and shut down that website, and cooperating with foreign agencies to investigate its operator.

From BBC

Now their greatest challenge might be shutting out the distraction of being deemed a favorite to win the Super Bowl.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bar
• lock
• push
• seal