(~s, ~ting)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
Note: The form '~' is used in the present tense and is the past tense and past participle.
1.
If you ~ something such as a door or if it ~s, it moves so that it fills a hole or a space.
Just make sure you ~ the gate after you...
The screen door ~ gently.
= close
? open
VERB: V n, V
•
Shut is also an adjective.
They have warned residents to stay inside and keep their doors and windows ~...
ADJ: v-link ADJ
2.
If you ~ your eyes, you lower your eyelids so that you cannot see anything.
Lucy ~ her eyes so she wouldn’t see it happen.
= close
? open
VERB: V n
•
Shut is also an adjective.
His eyes were ~ and he seemed to have fallen asleep.
ADJ: v-link ADJ
3.
If your mouth ~s or if you ~ your mouth, you place your lips firmly together.
Daniel’s mouth opened, and then ~ again...
He opened and ~ his mouth, unspeaking.
= close
? open
VERB: V, V n
•
Shut is also an adjective.
She was silent for a moment, lips tight ~, eyes distant.
ADJ: v-link ADJ
4.
When a store, bar, or other public building ~s or when someone ~s it, it is closed and you cannot use it until it is open again.
There is a tendency to ~ museums or shops at a moment’s notice...
What time do the pubs ~?
= close
? open
VERB: V n, V
•
Shut is also an adjective.
Make sure you have food to tide you over when the local shop may be ~.
ADJ: v-link ADJ
5.
If you say that someone ~s their eyes to something, you mean that they deliberately ignore something which they should deal with.
We ~ our eyes to the plainest facts, refusing to admit the truth...
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n disapproval
6.
If someone tells you to keep your mouth ~ about something, they are telling you not to let anyone else know about it.
PHRASE: V inflects
7.
If you keep your mouth ~, you do not express your opinions about something, even though you would like to.
If she had kept her mouth ~ she would still have her job now.
PHRASE: V inflects