shut
Americanverb (used with object)
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to put (a door, cover, etc.) in position to close or obstruct.
- Antonyms:
- open
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to close the doors of (often followed byup ).
to shut up a shop for the night.
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to close (something) by bringing together or folding its parts.
Shut your book. Shut the window!
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to confine; enclose.
to shut a bird into a cage.
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to bar; exclude.
They shut him from their circle.
- Synonyms:
- prohibit
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to cause (a factory, school, etc.) to end or suspend operations, services, or business activity.
He shut his store, sold his house, and moved away.
We're shutting the office for two weeks in June.
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to bolt; bar.
verb (used without object)
adjective
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closed; fastened up.
a shut door.
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Phonetics. checked.
noun
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the act or time of shutting or closing.
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the line where two pieces of welded metal are united.
verb phrase
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shut off
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to stop the passage of (water, traffic, electricity, etc.); close off.
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to isolate; separate.
an outpost almost completely shut off from civilization.
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shut in
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to enclose.
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to confine, as from illness.
She broke her leg in a fall and has been shut in for several weeks.
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shut up
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to imprison; confine.
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to close entirely.
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Informal. to stop talking; become silent (often used as a rude command).
Just sit down and shut up! I thought the neighbors would never shut up and let me sleep.
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Informal. to stop (someone) from talking; silence.
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Informal. (used to express disbelief or astonishment).
You dated her in high school? Shut up!
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shut down
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to close, especially temporarily; end or suspend operations, services, or business activity.
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to stop operating or stop the operation of (a machine).
Did you remember to shut down your computer?
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Informal. Also shut down onupon to hinder; check; stop from doing or saying something.
He appeared on the talk show to shut down his critics.
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Informal. to defeat or outdo.
The team was able to shut down the offense.
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to settle over a place so as to envelop or darken it.
The fog shut down rapidly.
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shut of free of; rid of.
He wished he were shut of all his debts.
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shut out
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to keep from entering; exclude.
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to hide from view.
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to prevent (an opponent or opposing team) from scoring, as in a game of baseball.
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verb
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to move (something) so as to cover an aperture; close
to shut a door
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to close (something) by bringing together the parts
to shut a book
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to close or lock the doors of
to shut up a house
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(tr; foll by in, out, etc) to confine, enclose, or exclude
to shut a child in a room
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(tr) to prevent (a business, etc) from operating
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to ignore deliberately
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to refuse to think about
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to render impossible
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adjective
noun
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the act or time of shutting
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the line along which pieces of metal are welded
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slang to get rid of
Synonym Usage
See close.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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shutsimple
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shutssimple
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have shutperfect
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has shutperfect
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am shuttingprogressive
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are shuttingprogressive
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is shuttingprogressive
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have been shuttingperfect progressive
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has been shuttingperfect progressive
Past
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shutsimple
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had shutperfect
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was shuttingprogressive
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were shuttingprogressive
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had been shuttingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shut
First recorded before 1000; Middle English s(c)hutten, s(c)hetten, s(c)hitten Old English scyttan “to bolt (a door)”; akin to shoot 1
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.
See Examples For:
The incident set off alarms at OpenAI, which shut down systems it uses to test its AI models after it learned of the incident, to assess the damage and prevent further breakouts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Two U.S. lawmakers introduced the AI Kill Switch Act, requiring developers to maintain the ability to slow down, suspend or shut down their models if they pose serious risks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Lieu said "it is imperative" that AI systems have a kill switch "and that the federal government has the clear authority and process to shut down rogue AI models".
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Until now, the Houthis had stayed on the sidelines of the conflict, despite Iranian threats to shut down Bab al-Mandeb.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
“He means he wants you to shut up—like the rest of us.”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
She is currently going through her third medically induced menopause, which "shuts down" her ovaries and helps manage her pain.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
When the job market shuts them out, many are forced to permanently exit the workforce and prematurely tap into Social Security, or drain the nest eggs they explicitly saved for their 70s and 80s.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 19, 2026
His alarm clock, a big and bulky machine that’s Bluetooth-connected to the house’s fire alarm, rattles his room until he finally shuts it off.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
Privacy, because your ISP would love to sell your browsing history and advertisers would love to track everything you do online—a VPN shuts down both.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
Dad pulls into our driveway and shuts off his engine.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
And as the company moves past temporary merger-related costs like shutting down redundant stores and networks, EPS will be even stronger as the years go on, T-Mobile CFO Peter Osvaldik told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
The deal, estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars, is designed to give American companies a central role while shutting out other foreign competitors including China and Russia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Two Amazon delivery service partners are shutting offices and laying off hundreds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
The raid came a day after it announced it would be shutting down in August, citing financial reasons and what it called an "elusive 'red line'" over what material is considered problematic.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
As it’s shutting, I stop one more time.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
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.
