shut out

1. Exclude, deny entry to, block, as in Anyone convicted of a crime is shut out from the legal profession , or These curtains shut out all the light . [Late 1300s]

2. Prevent an opponent from scoring, as in They were shut out of the last two games , or Reagan shut out Ford in the Texas primary in 1976. Originating in baseball about 1880, this usage was later transferred to other sports and then even broader usage.

Example Sentences

And the series was implausibly shut out by both the Golden Globe and SAG Awards.

From The Daily Beast

But of course, the union was shut out of the process, according to spokesman George Atallah.

From The Daily Beast

There were two-story brick buildings on both sides, with wooden stairways that shut out all but a thin blue strip of sky.

From The Daily Beast

Tanaka then settled into a groove, pitching shut-out ball for the next five innings, fanning eight as the Yankees won 7-3.

From The Daily Beast

In Europe today, walls are going up everywhere to keep the Roma, also known as ‘gypsies’, firmly shut out.

From The Daily Beast

A tarpaulin stretched from wheel to wheel of the wagon shut out the driving rain that fled in sheets before the whooping wind.

From Project Gutenberg

Their dominion was an Utopia; and had it been possible to shut out every European and every wild Indian, it might have lasted.

From Project Gutenberg

My head sank to the table and my hands clasped my eyes to shut out the blackness.

From Project Gutenberg

Many thus unfortunately situated, from study and reading while so shut out from the world, become the most delightful companions.

From Project Gutenberg

It seemed to the poor child as if Mrs Mason's words were irrevocable, and, that being so, she was shut out from every house.

From Project Gutenberg