shutdown

American  

[shuht-daun] / ˈʃʌtˌdaʊn /

noun

• shutdowns
  plural

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.

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shutdown British  

/ ˈʃʌtˌdaʊn /

noun

1. 1. the closing of a factory, shop, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      shutdown costs

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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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• shutdowns
  plural

Etymology

Origin of shutdown

1855–60, noun use of verb phrase shut down

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shutdown shutdowns

The shutdown had to happen because the buildings had become leaky and rusty and needed a complete overhaul.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Some of the U.S. refineries slated for closure may have gone through initial shutdown studies a decade or more ago, he said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

Tom Brown, an Anthropic co-founder and chief compute officer at the company, has been leading many interactions with the administration after helping resolve the shutdown.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

Fox’s own Washington bureau chief, Bryan Boughton, who happened to be chairing the pool this week, sent the note announcing the shutdown.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

With all the county’s water mains on emergency shutdown, and endless glitches in the computers trying to redirect what water is left, he’s been transporting water manually to high-priority facilities.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Taylor revealed on Disney’s “Get Real” podcast that the show would address the fallout from the production shutdowns: “It’s no secret that MomTok has been going through some drama this year,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Concluding that the government-imposed shutdowns wouldn’t suppress demand for long, he went on a buying spree while much of the industry retrenched.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

"The cell phone data we used was made available to researchers during the pandemic to help reveal the impacts of COVID-19 shutdowns," said co-lead author Scott Yanco, a research ecologist at the Smithsonian's National Zoo.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

India ranked second worldwide in internet shutdowns last year, according to Access Now monitor, including localised blackouts during protests, conflict and communal violence.

From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026

As a result, the economy has been officially reported to suffer enormous losses through production shutdowns, substitutions of materials that lower quality and increase costs, and hoarding of scarce materials.

From Area Handbook for Bulgaria by Violeta D. Baluyut

Related Words

• closedown
• closure
• stoppage