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shutdown

American  
[shuht-doun] / ˈʃʌtˌdaʊn /

noun

  1. a shutting down, as of a factory, school, or machine; a termination or suspension of operations, services, or business activity.

    a partial government shutdown;

    an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor.


shutdown British  
/ ˈʃʌtˌdaʊn /

noun

    1. the closing of a factory, shop, etc

    2. ( as modifier )

      shutdown costs

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to cease or cause to cease operation

  2. (tr) to close by lowering

  3. (tr) (of fog) to descend and envelop

  4. informal (intr; foll by on or upon) to put a stop to; clamp down on

  5. (tr) to reduce the power level of (a nuclear reactor) to the lowest possible value

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of shutdown

1855–60, noun use of verb phrase shut down

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The sizable November decline could be attributed to a variety of factors, experts note, but one stands out: the U.S. federal government shutdown.

From MarketWatch

The Labor Department issued its report on November prices after the long shutdown, when its workers weren’t able to gather data that they normally would have.

From The Wall Street Journal

Still, economists cautioned against reading too much into the report, which came after shutdown delays canceled the CPI reading for October.

From The Wall Street Journal

Data distortions caused by the government shutdown may have amplified the slowdown, Barron’s reported Thursday.

From Barron's

But Bernard Yaros, lead economist at Oxford Economics, cautioned that the easing might "be more noise than signal due to the disruptions from the shutdown".

From BBC