shut-in
Americanadjective
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confined to one's home, a hospital, etc., as from illness.
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Psychiatry. disposed to desire solitude; withdrawn; asocial.
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(of an oil or gas well) temporarily sealed up.
noun
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a person confined by infirmity or disease to the house, a hospital, etc.
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Also called shut-in well. an oil or gas well that has been closed down.
noun
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a person confined indoors by illness
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( as modifier )
a shut-in patient
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psychiatry a condition in which the person is highly withdrawn and unable to express his own feelings See also schizoid
Etymology
Origin of shut-in
1840–50, adj., noun use of verb phrase shut in
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.
“This may be the case in particular with Saudi Arabia and UAE,” they said, noting the two countries had a combined 4 million barrels a day of liquids production shut-in in the Middle East.
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
Beyond the near-standstill of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, “every day of damaged or shut-in infrastructure pushes prewar production capacity further out of reach,” the analysts said.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026
But I took deep pride in getting out in the world with a body that I feared was going to eventually reach shut-in status.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2026
The units, situated 5 to 9 miles from Santa Barbara County’s coastline, were shut-in after a corroded pipeline released nearly 3,000 barrels of oil in 2015.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025
Wes’s aunt Nicey has been working for the State of Maryland doing home visits for the elderly, sick, and shut-in for a decade.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
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.
