shut

Universal Words verb, adjective verb (shutting, shut, shut) 1 to make sth close; to become closed: [VN] Philip went into his room and shut the door behind him. * I can't shut my suitcase-it's too full. * She shut her eyes and fell asleep immediately. * He shut his book and looked up. * [V] The window won't shut * The doors open and shut automatically. 2 (BrE) when a shop/store, restaurant, etc. shuts or when sb shuts it, it stops being open for business and you cannot go into it: [V] The bank shuts at 4. * We left the hotel only to discover that the whole city shuts at 10.30. [also VN] -< CLOSE IDIOMS shut your mouth / face! (slang) a rude way of telling sb to be quiet or stop talking shut up shop (BrE, informal) to close a business permanently or to stop working for the day moreatDOOR, EAR, EYEn., MOUTHn. PHRASALVERBS shut sb/sth>-<away to put sb/sth in a place where other people cannot see or find them shut yourself away to go somewhere where you will be completely alone: Mary always shuts herself away in her room while she's working. shut down (of a factory, shop / store, etc. or a machine) to stop opening for business; to stop working: The theatre shut down after more than half a century. relatednounSHUTDOWN shut sth>-<down to stop a factory, shop/store, etc. from opening for business; to stop a machine from working: The computer system will be shut down over the weekend. relatednounSHUTDOWN shut sb / yourself in (sth) to put sb in a room and keep them there; to go to a room and stay there: She shut the dog in the shed while she prepared the barbecue. shut sth in sth to trap sth by closing a door, lid, etc. on it: Sam shut his finger in the car door. shut off (of a machine, tool, etc.) to stop working: The engines shut off automatically in an emergency. shut sth>-<off 1 to stop a machine, tool, etc. from working: I wish someone would shut off that car alarm. 2 to stop a supply of gas, water, etc. from flowing or reaching a place: A valve immediately shuts off the gas when the lid is closed. shut yourself off (from sth) to avoid seeing people or having contact with anyone: Martin shut himself off from the world to write his book. shut sb/sth off from sth to separate sb/sth from sth: Bosnia is shut off from the Adriatic by the mountains. shut sb/sth>-<out (of sth) 1 to prevent sb/sth from entering a place: Mum, Ben keeps shutting me out of the bedroom! * sunglasses that shut out 99% of the sun's harmful rays 2 to not allow a person to share or be part of your thoughts; to stop yourself from having particular feelings: I wanted to shut John out of my life for ever. * She learned to shut out her angry feelings. * If you shut me out, how can I help you? shut up (informal) to stop talking (often used as an order as a rude way of telling sb to stop talking): Just shut up and listen! * Will you tell Mike to shut up? * When they'd finally shut up, I started again. shut sb up to make sb stop talking: She kicked Anne under the table to shut her up. shut sth>-<up to close a room, house, etc: The summer house was shut up for another year and we went back to the city. shut sb/sth up (in sth) to keep sb/sth in a place and prevent them from going anywhere: He shuts himself up with that computer for hours. adjective [notbeforenoun] 1 not open SYNCLOSED: The door was shut. * She slammed the door shut. * Keep your eyes shut. 2 (BrE) not open for business SYNCLOSED: Unfortunately the bank is shut now.