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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

shut       (shŭt)  Pronunciation Key  v.   shut, shut·ting, shuts v.   tr. To move (a door or lid, for example) so as to block passage through an opening. To block entrance to or exit from; close: shut a corridor. To fasten with a lock, catch, or latch. To confine in or as if in a closed space: shut them in a cage. To exclude from or as if from a closed space: shut the cats out of the house. To cause to stop operating: shut down a restaurant; a school that was shut for the vacation. v.   intr. To move or become moved so as to block passage; close: a door that shuts by itself. To stop operating, especially automatically: The electricity shuts off at midnight. n.   The act or time of shutting. The line of connection between welded pieces of metal. To stop the flow or passage of; cut off: shut off the hot water by closing a valve. To close off; isolate: loners who shut themselves off from the community. To cause (someone) to stop speaking; silence. To stop speaking. Phrasal Verb(s): shut off To stop the flow or passage of; cut off: shut off the hot water by closing a valve. To close off; isolate: loners who shut themselves off from the community. shut out Sports To prevent (an opponent) from scoring any runs or points. shut up To cause (someone) to stop speaking; silence. To stop speaking. Idiom(s): shut (one's) eyes to To refuse to consider or acknowledge: administrators who shut their eyes to pervasive corruption. [Middle English shutten, from Old English scyttan; see skeud- in Indo-European roots.]

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
shut 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

shut
adjective
1.	not open; "the door slammed shut" [ant: open]
2.	used especially of mouth or eyes; "he sat quietly with closed eyes"; "his eyes were shut against the sunlight" [syn: closed] [ant: open]
verb
1.	move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut; "Close the door"; "shut the window" [syn: close] [ant: open]
2.	become closed; "The windows closed with a loud bang" [syn: close] [ant: open]
3.	prevent from entering; shut out; "The trees were shutting out all sunlight"; "This policy excludes people who have a criminal record from entering the country" [syn: exclude] [ant: admit]

American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

shut

In addition to the idioms beginning with shut, also see close (shut) down; close (shut) one's eyes to; close (shut) the door on; keep one's mouth shut; open and shut case; put up or shut up.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shut

Shut\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shut; p. pr. & vb. n. Shutting.] [OE. shutten, schutten, shetten, schitten, AS. scyttan to shut or lock up (akin to D. schutten, G. sch["u]tzen to protect), properly, to fasten with a bolt or bar shot across, fr. AS. sce['o]tan to shoot. [root]159. See Shoot.]

1. To close so as to hinder ingress or egress; as, to shut a door or a gate; to shut one's eyes or mouth.

2. To forbid entrance into; to prohibit; to bar; as, to shut the ports of a country by a blockade.

Shall that be shut to man which to the beast Is open? --Milton.

3. To preclude; to exclude; to bar out. "Shut from every shore." --Dryden.

4. To fold together; to close over, as the fingers; to close by bringing the parts together; as, to shut the hand; to shut a book.

To shut in. (a) To inclose; to confine. "The Lord shut him in." --Cen. vii. 16. (b) To cover or intercept the view of; as, one point shuts in another.

To shut off. (a) To exclude. (b) To prevent the passage of, as steam through a pipe, or water through a flume, by closing a cock, valve, or gate.

To shut out, to preclude from entering; to deny admission to; to exclude; as, to shut out rain by a tight roof.

To shut together, to unite; to close, especially to close by welding.

To shut up. (a) To close; to make fast the entrances into; as, to shut up a house. (b) To obstruct. "Dangerous rocks shut up the passage." --Sir W. Raleigh. (c) To inclose; to confine; to imprison; to fasten in; as, to shut up a prisoner.

Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. --Gal. iii. 23. (d) To end; to terminate; to conclude.

When the scene of life is shut up, the slave will be above his master if he has acted better. --Collier. (e) To unite, as two pieces of metal by welding. (f) To cause to become silent by authority, argument, or force.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shut

Shut\, v. i. To close itself; to become closed; as, the door shuts; it shuts hard.

To shut up, to cease speaking. [Colloq.] --T. Hughes.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shut

Shut\, a. 1. Closed or fastened; as, a shut door.

2. Rid; clear; free; as, to get shut of a person. [Now dialectical or local, Eng. & U.S.] --L'Estrange.

3. (Phon.) (a) Formed by complete closure of the mouth passage, and with the nose passage remaining closed; stopped, as are the mute consonants, p, t, k, b, d, and hard g. --H. Sweet. (b) Cut off sharply and abruptly by a following consonant in the same syllable, as the English short vowels, [a^], [e^], [i^], [o^], [u^], always are.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shut

Shut\, n. The act or time of shutting; close; as, the shut of a door.

Just then returned at shut of evening flowers. --Milton.

2. A door or cover; a shutter. [Obs.] --Sir I. Newton.

3. The line or place where two pieces of metal are united by welding.

Cold shut, the imperfection in a casting caused by the flowing of liquid metal upon partially chilled metal; also, the imperfect weld in a forging caused by the inadequate heat of one surface under working.