I. shut 1 S1 W2 /ʃʌt/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle shut , present participle shutting )
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: scyttan ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to close something, or to become closed:
Shut the window, Ellen!
I heard his bedroom door shut.
She lay down on her bed and shut her eyes.
shut (something) behind somebody
She walked quickly in and shut the door behind her.
He shut the drawer and turned the key.
2 . shut your mouth/face/trap! ( also shut your gob!/shut it! British English ) spoken not polite used to tell someone to stop talking
3 . [intransitive and transitive] British English to stop being open to the public for a short time or permanently SYN close :
The post office shuts at 5 o'clock.
At midday we shut the shop for lunch.
He lost his job when they shut the factory.
4 . shut your eyes/ears to something to deliberately refuse to notice or pay attention to something:
We ought not to shut our eyes to these facts.
She heard the boys shouting to her to stop, but she shut her ears to them.
5 . shut something in the door/drawer etc British English shut the door/drawer etc on something American English to shut a door etc against something so that it gets trapped there:
I shut my finger in the back door yesterday and it still hurts.
shut somebody/something ↔ away phrasal verb
1 . to put someone or something in a place away from other people where they cannot be seen:
A lot of people are classed as mad and shut away unnecessarily.
2 . shut yourself away to deliberately avoid seeing people by staying at home or going to a quiet place, especially because you are very unhappy or want to study, write etc:
When news came of Robin’s death, she shut herself away and saw no one.
shut yourself away in
She shut herself away in her room to work on her novel.
shut down phrasal verb
1 . if a company, factory, large machine etc shuts down or is shut down, it stops operating, either permanently or for a short time:
Our local hardware shop has shut down.
shut something ↔ down
an accident which resulted in two of the plant’s nuclear reactors being shut down
The way to shut the machine down is to type EXIT.
2 . shut somebody ↔ down informal to prevent an opposing team or player from playing well or getting points:
We all knew that to win we’d have to shut down Bobby Mitchell.
shut somebody in (something) phrasal verb
a) if you shut someone in a room, you close the door and stop them from getting out:
Her parents shut her in an upstairs room.
He pushed the dogs into the breakfast room and shut them in.
b) shut yourself in (something) if you shut yourself in a room, you close the door and stay in there, and often stop other people from coming in:
Ellie darted back to her room and shut herself in.
He shut himself in his room and wrote letters.
shut off phrasal verb
1 . if a machine, tool etc shuts off or if you shut it off, it stops operating SYN turn off :
The iron shuts off automatically if it gets too hot.
shut something ↔ off
I let the engine run for a minute and then shut it off.
Don’t forget to shut off the water supply.
2 . shut something ↔ off to prevent goods or supplies from being available or being delivered:
a strike that closed the mines and shut off coal supplies
3 . shut yourself off to avoid meeting and talking to other people
shut yourself off from
He was cold and remote, shutting himself off from her completely.
4 . be shut off from somebody/something to be separated from other people or things, especially so that you are not influenced by them:
The valley is shut off from the modern world.
shut out phrasal verb
1 . shut somebody out to deliberately not let someone join you in an activity or share your thoughts and feelings:
How can I help you if you just keep shutting me out all the time?
shut somebody out from
I felt I was being shut out from all the family’s affairs.
2 . shut somebody/something ↔ out to prevent someone or something from entering a place:
heavy curtains that shut out the sunlight
shut somebody/something ↔ out from
The door closed firmly, shutting me out from the warmth inside.
3 . shut something ↔ out to stop yourself from thinking about or noticing something, so that you are not affected by it:
People close their windows at night in a vain attempt to shut out the sound of gunfire.
She shut out memories of James.
Jenny closed her eyes and tried to shut everything out.
4 . shut out somebody American English to defeat an opposing sports team and prevent them from getting any points:
Colorado shut out Kansas City 3–0.
shut up phrasal verb
1 . shut up! spoken not polite used to tell someone to stop talking SYN be quiet! :
Oh, shut up! I don’t want to hear your excuses.
Just shut up and listen.
shut up! about
Shut up about your stupid dog, okay!
2 . shut (somebody) up informal to stop talking or be quiet, or to make someone do this:
I can’t stand that woman. She never shuts up.
shut (somebody) up about
I wish you’d shut up about Chris.
I only said that to shut her up.
3 . shut somebody up to keep someone in a place away from other people, and prevent them from leaving
shut somebody up in
I’ve had a terrible cold and been shut up in my room for a week.
Was there any need to keep us shut up here?
4 . shut something ↔ up to close a shop, room etc so that people cannot get into it:
Bernadette cleaned the attic and then shut it up for another year.
5 . shut up shop British English informal to close a business or stop working, at the end of the day or permanently
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THESAURUS
▪ close to stop being open, or to make something stop being open. You use close and shut especially about your eyes, your mouth, a door, a window, or a container:
Can I close the window?
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Her eyes slowly closed.
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He closed the door gently, so as not to wake the children.
▪ shut to close something . Shut sometimes has a feeling of doing something quickly and firmly, whereas close sounds more careful:
He shut the door with a loud bang.
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Shut your eyes and go to sleep.
▪ slam to close a door or lid quickly and noisily, especially because you are angry:
She left the room, slamming the door behind her.
▪ draw the curtains to close curtains by pulling them across a window:
The curtains were still drawn at ten o'clock in the morning.
▪ put the lid on something to close a container by putting a lid onto it:
Did you put the lid on the cookie jar?
▪ seal to close something so that no air or water can get in or out:
In this experiment, the chamber must be completely sealed.
II. shut 2 BrE AmE adjective [not before noun]
1 . not open SYN closed :
Is the door shut properly?
She kept the windows shut, for fear of burglars.
He sat with his eyes shut.
The windows were tightly shut.
slam/bang/swing etc shut
The door slammed shut behind him.
pull/kick/slam etc something shut
Jenny pulled the window shut.
⇨ keep your mouth shut at ↑ keep 1 (2)
2 . British English if a shop, bar etc is shut, it is not open for business SYN closed :
in the evening when the shops are shut
Sorry, but we’re shut.
shut for
The first four hotels we tried were shut for the winter.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adverbs
▪ tightly/tight shut
He went on sobbing, his eyes tight shut.
▪ firmly shut
The door remained firmly shut.
■ verbs
▪ something slams/bangs shut
The front door slammed shut.
▪ something swings shut
The gate swung shut behind her.
▪ pull/kick/slam something shut
He pulled the trapdoor shut over his head.
▪ keep something shut
When it’s so hot, we keep the doors and windows shut and put on the air conditioner.
▪ screw/squeeze your eyes shut (=shut your eyes tight)