shut

shut¹ W2S1 [ʃʌt] v past tense and past participle shut present participle shutting

[: Old English; Origin: scyttan]

1.) [I and T]

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 (sth) behind sb

▪ She walked quickly in and shut the door behind her.

▪ The gates shut behind him with a dull thud.

▪ He shut the drawer and turned the key.

see usage note ↑close¹

2.) shut your mouth/face/trap! also shut your gob!/shut it! BrE

spoken not polite used to tell someone to stop talking

3.) [I and T] BrE

to stop being open to the public for a short time or permanently

= ↑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 sth

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 sth in the door/drawer etc

BrE shut the door/drawer etc on sth

AmE 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 away [shut sb/sth away] phr v

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 phr v

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 sth<=>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 sb<=>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 in () [shut sb in (sth)] phr v

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 (sth)

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 phr v

1.) if a machine, tool etc shuts off or if you shut it off, it stops operating

= ↑turn off

▪ The iron shuts off automatically if it gets too hot.

shut sth<=>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 sth<=>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 sth

to be separated from other people or things, especially so that you are not influenced by them

▪ The valley is completely shut off from the modern world.

shut out phr v

1.) shut sb 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 sb/sth<=>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 sth <=>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 sb

AmE to defeat an opposing sports team and prevent them from getting any points

▪ Colorado shut out Kansas City 3-0.

shut up phr v

1.) shut up!

spoken not polite used to tell someone to stop talking

= ↑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 (sb) 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 sb 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 sth<=>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

BrE informal to close a business or stop working, at the end of the day or permanently

shut ²

shut² adj [not before noun]

1.) not open

= ↑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 sth shut

▪ Jenny pulled the window shut.

→keep your mouth shut at ↑keep¹ (2)

2.) BrE if a shop, bar etc is shut, it is not open for business

= ↑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.