shut
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: shŭt
ipa: /ʃʌt/
ipa: /ʃʊt/
ipa: /ʃɛt/
rhymes: -ʌt
Forms: form: shuts
form: shutting
form: shut
form: shut
form: shutten
Etymology: From Middle English shutten, shetten, from Old English scyttan (“to cause rapid movement, shoot a bolt, shut, bolt”), from Proto-Germanic *skutjaną, *skuttijaną (“to bar, bolt”), from Proto-Germanic *skuttą, *skuttjō (“bar, bolt, shed”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- (“to drive, fall upon, rush”).
Cognate with Dutch schutten (“to shut in, lock up”), Low German schütten (“to shut, lock in”), German schützen (“to shut out, dam, protect, guard”).
Senses: examples: text: Please shut the door.
text: The light was so bright I had to shut my eyes.
text: They shut the road for the festival.
text: If you wait too long, the automatic door will shut.
glosses: To close, in various senses.
To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
examples: text: He has shut his mind to new ideas.
glosses: To close, in various senses.
To make or become unreceptive.
examples: text: They generally shut the museum each day at 6 pm.
text: The supermarket shuts at eight o'clock.
text: Lots of shops in the town centre have shut because of the recession.
glosses: To close, in various senses.
To close (a business or venue) temporarily or permanently.
examples: text: We are shutting the phone lines at 9 pm.
text: They shut the airport because of a bomb scare.
glosses: To close, in various senses.
To put out of use or operation.
examples: text: Phone lines will shut in ten minutes.
glosses: To close, in various senses.
To cease operation or cease to be available.
examples: text: Shut the file when you have finished reading data.
text: This app has a bug: when you try to sort a large spreadsheet, it shuts.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To close, in various senses.
To terminate an application, window, file or database connection, etc.
qualifier: more usually 'close'
examples: text: He's just gone and shut his finger in the door!
glosses: To catch or snag in the act of shutting something.
examples: text: I shut the cat in the kitchen before going out.
glosses: To confine in an enclosed area; to enclose.
examples: text: Now, sometimes in my sorrow shut,
⁠Or breaking into song by fits;
⁠Alone, alone, to where he sits,
The Shadow cloak’d from head to foot
Who keeps the keys of all the creeds,
⁠I wander, often falling lame, […]
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 39:
glosses: To isolate, to close off from the world.
examples: text: shut from every shore
ref: 1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
synonyms: shut out
glosses: To preclude, exclude.
glosses: simple past and past participle of shut
Derived terms: sense: phrasal verbs derived from shut
word: shut away
sense: phrasal verbs derived from shut
word: shut down
sense: phrasal verbs derived from shut
word: shut in
sense: phrasal verbs derived from shut
word: shut of
sense: phrasal verbs derived from shut
word: shut off
sense: phrasal verbs derived from shut
word: shut out
sense: phrasal verbs derived from shut
word: shut up
sense: single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut
word: beshut
sense: single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut
word: outshut
sense: single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut
word: shutdown
sense: single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut
word: shut-down
sense: single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut
word: shut-eye
sense: single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut
word: shut-in
sense: single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut
word: shutout
sense: single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut
word: shut-out
sense: single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut
word: shutter
sense: single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut
word: shuttle
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: cut-and-shut
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: open-and-shut
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut it
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut my mouth
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut one's eyes
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut one's eyes and think of England
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut one's eyes to
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut one's face
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut one's gob
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut one's head
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut one's mouth
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut one's trap
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut the box
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut the door
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut the door on
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut the fridge
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut the front door
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut the stable door after the horse has bolted
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut up shop
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut your face
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut your mouth
sense: multiword terms derived from shut
word: shut your trap