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[shuht] /ʃʌt/
verb (used with object), shut, shutting.
to close the doors of (often followed by up):
to shut up a shop for the night.
to close (something) by bringing together or folding its parts:
Shut your book. Shut the window!
to confine; enclose:
to shut a bird into a cage.
to bar; exclude:
They shut him from their circle.
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.
to bolt; bar.
verb (used without object), shut, shutting.
to become shut or closed; close.
closed; fastened up:
a shut door.
Phonetics. checked (def 2).
the act or time of shutting or closing.
the line where two pieces of welded metal are united.
Verb phrases
shut down,
  1. to close, especially temporarily; end or suspend operations, services, or business activity.
  2. to stop operating or stop the operation of (a machine):
    Did you remember to shut down your computer?
  3. Also, shut down on/upon. Informal. to hinder; check; stop.
  4. to settle over so as to envelop or darken:
    The fog shut down rapidly.
shut in,
  1. to enclose.
  2. to confine, as from illness:
    She broke her leg in a fall and has been shut in for several weeks.
shut of, Informal. free of; rid of:
He wished he were shut of all his debts.
shut off,
  1. to stop the passage of (water, traffic, electricity, etc.); close off.
  2. to isolate; separate:
    an outpost almost completely shut off from civilization.
shut out,
  1. to keep from entering; exclude.
  2. to hide from view.
  3. to prevent (an opponent or opposing team) from scoring, as in a game of baseball.
shut up,
  1. to imprison; confine.
  2. to close entirely.
  3. to stop talking; become silent:
    I thought the neighbors would never shut up and let me sleep.
  4. to stop (someone) from talking; silence.
Origin of shut
before 1000; Middle English schutten, Old English scyttan to bolt (a door); akin to shoot1
Related forms
half-shut, adjective
reshut, verb, reshut, reshutting.
unshut, adjective
1. See close. 4. jail, imprison, cage. 5. prohibit.
1. open. Unabridged
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Examples from the Web for shut
Contemporary Examples
Historical Examples
  • She clapped her hands, and her first words were, "shut the gates."

    Lord Jim Joseph Conrad
  • He shut the door and locked it behind him and then went on down the corridor.

    A Prisoner of Morro Upton Sinclair
  • And now I can see Hilda, and her hair is white, but her eyes are shut.

    Ulric the Jarl William O. Stoddard
  • The colonel screwed up his tired eyes as if to shut out a vision.

    Jack O' Judgment Edgar Wallace
  • He was shut up for several hours with a delegation who had invited him down.

    Ways of War and Peace Delia Austrian
British Dictionary definitions for shut


verb shuts, shutting, shut
to move (something) so as to cover an aperture; close: to shut a door
to close (something) by bringing together the parts: to shut a book
(transitive) often foll by up. to close or lock the doors of: to shut up a house
(transitive; foll by in, out, etc) to confine, enclose, or exclude: to shut a child in a room
(transitive) to prevent (a business, etc) from operating
shut one's eyes to, to ignore deliberately
shut the door on
  1. to refuse to think about
  2. to render impossible
closed or fastened
the act or time of shutting
the line along which pieces of metal are welded
(slang) get shut of, get shot of, to get rid of
Word Origin
Old English scyttan; related to Old Frisian sketta to shut in, Middle Dutch schutten to obstruct
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for shut

Old English scyttan "to put (a bolt) in place so as to fasten a door or gate, bolt, shut to; discharge, pay off," from West Germanic *skutjan (cf. Old Frisian schetta, Middle Dutch schutten "to shut, shut up, obstruct"), from PIE *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw" (see shoot (v.)). Related: Shutting.

Meaning "to close by folding or bringing together" is from mid-14c. Meaning "prevent ingress and egress" is from mid-14c. Sense of "to set (someone) free (from)" (c.1500) is obsolete except in dialectal phrases such as to get shut of. To shut (one's) mouth "desist from speaking" is recorded from mid-14c.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Idioms and Phrases with shut
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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