shut-off
Britishnoun
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a device that shuts something off, esp a machine control
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a stoppage or cessation
verb
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to stem the flow of
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to block off the passage through
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to isolate or separate
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Stop the flow or passage of, as in They shut off the water while repairs were being made . [Early 1800s]
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Close off, isolate, as in Loners shut themselves off from the community . [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.
An extended shut-off of jet fuel and diesel from the Middle East into the global market could pit the fuel-poor U.S. coasts against Europe and Asia for supplies.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026
But the gas is still off and electricity bills keep mounting this winter, leaving her in fear of another shut-off.
From BBC • Jan. 10, 2026
America’s workplaces have been getting safer for more than a century now—cleaner, fewer fire risks, auto shut-off switches on tools, and even eye goggles and steel-toed boots.
From Barron's • Nov. 15, 2025
Portuguese Bend resident Mike Hong said Saturday that he’d only learned of the impending shut-off an hour earlier.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 31, 2024
“We have to turn the shut-off valve, take the pipe apart, put on a new connector, and stick it back together again.”
From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau
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.
