shutter

American  

[shuht-er] / ˈʃʌt ər /

noun

• shutters
  plural

1. a solid or louvered movable cover for a window.

2. a movable cover, slide, etc., for an opening.

3. a person or thing that shuts.

4. Photography. a mechanical device for opening and closing the aperture of a camera lens to expose film or the like.

---

verb (used with object)

• shutters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shuttered,
  past participle,  past
• shuttering
  present participle

1. to close or provide with shutters.

   She shuttered the windows.

2. to close (a store or business operations) for the day or permanently.

verb (used without object)

• shutters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shuttered,
  past participle,  past
• shuttering
  present participle

1. to close or close down.

   The factory has shuttered temporarily.

shutter British  

/ ˈʃʌtə /

noun

1. a hinged doorlike cover, often louvred and usually one of a pair, for closing off a window

2. to close business at the end of the day or permanently

3. photog an opaque shield in a camera that, when tripped, admits light to expose the film or plate for a predetermined period, usually a fraction of a second. It is either built into the lens system or lies in the focal plane of the lens ( focal-plane shutter )

4. photog a rotating device in a film projector that permits an image to be projected onto the screen only when the film is momentarily stationary

5. music one of the louvred covers over the mouths of organ pipes, operated by the swell pedal

6. a person or thing that shuts

---

verb

1. to close with or as if with a shutter or shutters

2. to equip with a shutter or shutters

Synonym Usage

See curtain.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• shutterless
  adjective
• unshuttered
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• shutters
  plural

Participles

• shuttering
  present
• shuttered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• shutter
  simple
• shutters
  simple
• have shuttered
  perfect
• has shuttered
  perfect
• am shuttering
  progressive
• are shuttering
  progressive
• is shuttering
  progressive
• have been shuttering
  perfect progressive
• has been shuttering
  perfect progressive

Past

• shuttered
  simple
• had shuttered
  perfect
• was shuttering
  progressive
• were shuttering
  progressive
• had been shuttering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will shutter
  simple
• will have shuttered
  perfect
• will be shuttering
  progressive
• will have been shuttering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of shutter

First recorded in 1535–45; shut + -er ¹

Explanation

A shutter is a solid window covering that you close to block out light and open to let the sun shine in. Long ago, most houses had outdoor shutters that acted as an old-fashioned security system, as well as protection from sunlight and stormy weather. Many modern homes have decorative shutters that don't actually open and close. There's another kind of shutter inside your camera, which also opens and closes to let light through to capture a photographic image. Shutter dates from the 1720s, when it was short for window-shutters.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shutter shutters shuttered shuttering

The sepia footage and slow shutter speeds of the cameras that captured his magic during his playing days simply cannot dull his brilliance.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Tyson also said it plans to shutter a large beef packaging facility in Utah.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Orchid, 43, said the point of starting the landfill litigation was to shutter the dump and squeeze out enough money from the owners for her sick neighbors to move out of town.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

CBS claimed the move to shutter the “Late Show” was “purely a financial decision.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026

Just before he opened the shutter, he held up his false leg and waved it at the boy.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

The two of them live on-site in what looks like a family home straight out of a 1990s Disney film, a white colonial home with blue shutters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

Century-old El Floridita is cloaked with metal shutters.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

Reflective films, blinds, shutters, awnings and shaded roofs can all reduce heat gain.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

These included missing safety shutters - which protect people from coming into contact with a plug's live internal parts - missing fuses and oversized pin holes.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

She pulled down the wooden shutters of the kiosk, covering the neatly arranged cases of matches, chewing gum, sweets, cigarettes, and detergent, and then picked up Olanna’s bag and led the way into the yard.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Following those stumbles, GoPro shuttered its entertainment division to cut costs, as advertising and sponsorship revenues didn’t pan out.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

The same year “Rocky Horror Picture Show” hit cinemas in 1975, its Broadway run at the Belasco Theatre shuttered after 45 showings and negative reviews.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Blogs and entire media networks shuttered in rapid succession.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

In 2024, StubHub shuttered the customer-service campus it had opened to fanfare seven years earlier in Draper, Utah, cutting 297 jobs, according to a state layoff notice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Painted pale green with shuttered windows and a very small sign.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers

But since that law was signed, the shuttering of two major refineries in the state has left lawmakers and agencies skittish about regulating the facilities before electric vehicles have displaced the demand for gas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

But in the past half century of mergers and consolidations, it was briefly a casualty, shuttering in 1985.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Although the decision technically removes the court order shuttering the clinics, Rojas’ attorneys said the facilities are not expected to reopen while the criminal case continues.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

Following an overexpansion after going public in 2019, Beyond Meat has cut costs, consolidated warehouses and production, exited less profitable product lines and is shuttering its business in China.

From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026

Mr. Gideon leans back suddenly, his expression shuttering.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

Related Words

• curtain