shut up
Britishverb
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(tr) to prevent all access to
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(tr) to confine or imprison
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informal to cease to talk or make a noise or cause to cease to talk or make a noise: often used in commands
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(intr) (of horses in a race) to cease through exhaustion from maintaining a racing pace
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Imprison, confine, enclose, as in The dog was shut up in the cellar for the night , or She shut up her memories and never talked about the past . [c. 1400]
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Close completely, as in The windows were shut up tightly so no rain came in . [Early 1500s] This usage also occurs in shut up shop , meaning “close the premises of a business,” as in It's late, let's shut up shop now . [Late 1500s] Also see close up , def. 3.
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Cause someone to stop speaking, silence someone, as in It's time someone shut him up . [Early 1800s]
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Stop speaking, as in I've told you what I think and now I'll shut up . This usage also occurs as a rather rude imperative, as in Shut up! You've said enough . [First half of 1800s]
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.
She’s like, “I don’t know, but it’s a Broadway play. Shut up and let’s go.”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 14, 2023
This is legal reasoning worthy of the Ring Lardner character: Shut up, he explained.
From Washington Post • Apr. 24, 2023
When the Golden Globes attempted to wrap Michelle Yeoh up by playing walk-off music in January, the actress told them from the stage: "Shut up please. I can beat you up, and that's serious."
From BBC • Mar. 6, 2023
"Shut up and line up!" he said again to us kids.
From Salon • Jun. 11, 2022
Shut up, she tried to say with her eyes.
From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.