shutverb [ I or T ]
uk/ʃʌt/us/ʃʌt/present participle shutting, past tense and past participle shutshut verb [ I or T ] (CLOSE)
A2 to (cause to) close something:
Please shut the gate.
I've got a surprise for you! Shut your eyes tightly and hold out your hand.
Mary shut her book and put it down on the table.
This window won't shut - it's jammed.
More examples
- Could you shut the door, please?
- This door won't shut properly.
- I'd better check that I've shut the windows before I leave.
- I can't get this drawer to shut.
- I shut my eyes for the violent scenes.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Closing and blocking
- barricade
- batten
- batten down the hatches idiom
- block sth off
- block sth up
- dam
- dam sth up
- dark
- ensconce
- ensconced
- gum
- gum sth up
- jam
- seal
- shut (sth) off
- shutter
- silt (sth) up
- snap
- the darkest hour is just before the dawn idiom
- wedge
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shut verb [ I or T ] (STOP OPERATING)
A2 to (cause to) stop operating or being in service, either temporarily or permanently:
The shops shut at eight o'clock on Wednesday evenings.
It's such a shame they shut that factory (down).
More examples
- The shop is shutting in five minutes.
- All the shops have shut down.
- The bars all shut at midnight.
- What time does the restaurant shut?
- He lost his job when they shut the factory down.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Causing something to end
- abandon
- all good things (must) come to an end idiom
- and have done with it idiom
- be over the hump idiom
- bitter
- draw
- knock off (sth)
- lay
- lay sth to rest idiom
- lay the ghost of sth (to rest) idiom
- leave it at that idiom
- leave off (sth/doing sth)
- lift
- raise
- stone-dead
- the curtain falls on sth idiom
- to the bitter end idiom
- top sth off
- walk
- walk away
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Idiom(s)
shut your eyes to sth
shut your mouth/face
shut up shop
Phrasal verb(s)
shut sb away
shut sth away
shut yourself away
shut (sth) down
shut sb/sth in (sth)
shut sth in sth
shut (sth) off
shut sth off
shut yourself off
shut sb/sth out
shut sth out
shut sb out
shut (sb) up
shut sb/sth up
shut (sth) up
shutadjective [ after verb ]
uk/ʃʌt/us/ʃʌt/B1 closed:
I suspected something was wrong when I noticed her curtains were still shut at lunchtime.
figurative The government ought to have opened the door to Japanese investment instead of slamming it shut.
See also
open-and-shut
More examples
- The door clicked shut behind her.
- Half the time you go around with your eyes shut.
- Her bedroom door was shut so I assumed she was in bed.
- The window slammed shut with a loud bang.
- The lid of the box sprang shut.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Open and closed
- airtight
- ajar
- barred
- closed
- crack
- gaping
- hermetic
- hermetically sealed
- latch
- open
- outspread
- patency
- sealed
- to
- undone
- watertight
- wide-eyed