shutter

American  

[shuht-er] / ˈʃʌt ər /

noun

• shutters
  plural

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)

• shutters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shuttered,
  past participle,  past
• shuttering
  present participle

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)

• shutters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shuttered,
  past participle,  past
• shuttering
  present participle

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

Synonym Usage

See curtain.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• shutterless
  adjective
• unshuttered
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• shutters
  plural

Participles

• shuttering
  present
• shuttered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• shutter
  simple
• shutters
  simple
• have shuttered
  perfect
• has shuttered
  perfect
• am shuttering
  progressive
• are shuttering
  progressive
• is shuttering
  progressive
• have been shuttering
  perfect progressive
• has been shuttering
  perfect progressive

Past

• shuttered
  simple
• had shuttered
  perfect
• was shuttering
  progressive
• were shuttering
  progressive
• had been shuttering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will shutter
  simple
• will have shuttered
  perfect
• will be shuttering
  progressive
• will have been shuttering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of shutter

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

Explanation

A shutter is a solid window covering that you close to block out light and open to let the sun shine in. Long ago, most houses had outdoor shutters that acted as an old-fashioned security system, as well as protection from sunlight and stormy weather. Many modern homes have decorative shutters that don't actually open and close. There's another kind of shutter inside your camera, which also opens and closes to let light through to capture a photographic image. Shutter dates from the 1720s, when it was short for window-shutters.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shutter shutters shuttered shuttering

The sepia footage and slow shutter speeds of the cameras that captured his magic during his playing days simply cannot dull his brilliance.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Tyson also said it plans to shutter a large beef packaging facility in Utah.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Starbucks stores across South Korea will shutter for half a day next week for staff to attend a history lesson following a promotional campaign gone awry, the coffee giant said Monday.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

Soon after, Live Nation announced the venue would shutter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026

In his right hand, he’d hold the shutter release and a toy of some kind, which he’d shake and rattle to get our attention.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

"We have had to make this upsetting and difficult decision to pull the shutters down for the very last time," they said.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

The two of them live on-site in what looks like a family home straight out of a 1990s Disney film, a white colonial home with blue shutters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

External shading, such as shutters, awnings or shades, can be even more effective because it stops some sunlight before it reaches the glass.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

The streets were deserted, metal shutters drawn and houses closed up, as wildfires drove residents and tourists away during the peak summer season.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

She slowed her fast walking just a bit to let me catch up, and together we admired the redbrick buildings with their cheery white shutters and the bumpy cobblestone roads.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

After the same federal judge rejected the board’s latest naming workaround on Tuesday, the administration abruptly shuttered the building.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

In the regional capital, all metro lines were suspended and the city's airport shuttered for several hours, causing flights to be diverted.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

Businesses have shuttered, hospitals have had to turn to generators that have occasionally faltered, and residents have been scrambling to charge phones and refrigerate food.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

Several other IAP officials took on instrumental roles in American Muslims for Palestine shortly after IAP was shuttered.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

He locked the door and shuttered the wide windows of the inn, as if to distance himself from the stars and all their varied names.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

As Phase 4 of the revitalization project moves forward this fall, Wind & Sea is not the only longtime restaurant shuttering.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

“There is no evidence that the Board took account of its full range of statutory obligations in determining that a wholesale shuttering of the Kennedy Center was appropriate,” Cooper wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

Bessent also played down the economic impact of the Iran war, despite the rising cost of living caused by high oil prices following Iran's shuttering of the Strait of Hormuz.

From Barron's ● May 28, 2026

This reorganization will include shuttering 56 of 77 research stations studying climatological and ecological changes across the country.

From Salon ● May 2, 2026

The Sun dipped and vanished, and as if at the shuttering of a lamp, black night fell.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

Related Words

• curtain