shutter

American  

[shuht-er] / ˈʃʌt ər /

noun

1. a solid or louvered movable cover for a window.

2. a movable cover, slide, etc., for an opening.

3. a person or thing that shuts.

4. Photography. a mechanical device for opening and closing the aperture of a camera lens to expose film or the like.

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verb (used with object)

1. to close or provide with shutters.

   She shuttered the windows.

2. to close (a store or business operations) for the day or permanently.

verb (used without object)

1. to close or close down.

   The factory has shuttered temporarily.

shutter British  

/ ˈʃʌtə /

noun

1. a hinged doorlike cover, often louvred and usually one of a pair, for closing off a window

2. to close business at the end of the day or permanently

3. photog an opaque shield in a camera that, when tripped, admits light to expose the film or plate for a predetermined period, usually a fraction of a second. It is either built into the lens system or lies in the focal plane of the lens ( focal-plane shutter )

4. photog a rotating device in a film projector that permits an image to be projected onto the screen only when the film is momentarily stationary

5. music one of the louvred covers over the mouths of organ pipes, operated by the swell pedal

6. a person or thing that shuts

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verb

1. to close with or as if with a shutter or shutters

2. to equip with a shutter or shutters

Related Words

See curtain.

Other Word Forms

• shutterless adjective
• unshuttered adjective

Etymology

Origin of shutter

First recorded in 1535–45; shut + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Even if the war began to wind down in the next two weeks, it could take weeks for producers that have shuttered production to get it back on line again.

From Barron's

Brewdog shuttered the distilling arm of the business, which had been Dickie's focus in later years.

From BBC

Airspace across the region was forced to close and airports including Dubai and Doha, crucial transit hubs for passengers on long-haul flights, were shuttered.

From Barron's

Under that plan, CBS would have maintained a few of its signature overseas correspondents, while shuttering its bureaus around the world.

From Los Angeles Times

Snaking queues of vehicles waited in Myanmar for shrivelling petrol supplies on Wednesday, with some gas stations shuttered as fuel stocks dried up due to the war in the Middle East.

From Barron's

Related Words

• curtain