Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - shut

~1 v past tense and past participle past tense and past participle shut present participle shutting 1 to close something, or to become closed  (The door shut with a bang. | She lay down on her bed and shut her eyes. | Laruelle put the jewels back and shut the lid of the box.)  (- see open2) 2 shut sth in the door/drawer etc to shut a door etc against something so that it gets trapped there  (Watch out! You're going to get the cat's tail shut in the door.) 3 shut your mouth/trap/face! spoken used to rudely and angrily tell someone to stop talking 4 shut it! BrE spoken used to tell someone rudely and angrily to stop talking 5 especially BrE to stop being open to the public for a short time or permanently; close1 (3)  (The post office shuts at 5 o'clock. | He lost his job when they shut the factory.) 6 shut your eyes/ears to to refuse deliberately to notice or pay attention to something  (You simply can't shut your eyes to the truth of the matter.) 7 shut your ears to to deliberately not listen to something  (He could not shut his ears to the cries and groans coming from inside the room.) shut sb/sth away phr v a) to put someone or something in a place away from other people where they cannot be seen b) shut yourself away to stay at home or go somewhere quiet, so that you can be alone  (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  (There's a rumor going around that the plant is shutting down next year. | The printing press had been shut down for servicing.) 2 T shut someone down) AmE informal to prevent an opposing team or player from playing well or getting points  (We all knew that if we wanted to win we'd have to shut down Bobby Mitchell.) shut sb in phr v to put or keep someone in a room and stop them from getting out  (The children would be shut in the dormitory at night.) shut off phr v 1 if a machine, tool etc shuts off or if you shut it off, it stops operating  (The machine shuts off automatically if it gets too hot. | shut sth off)  (I let the engine run for a minute and then shut it off.) 2 T shut something 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 + from  (After her last movie, Garbo shut herself off from the world.) 4 be shut off from 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 by a range of high mountains.) shut sb/sth out phr v 1 (shut someone out) to deliberately not let someone join you in an activity or share your thoughts and feelings  (I felt I was being shut out from all the family's affairs. | How can I help you if you just keep shutting me out all the time?) 2 (shut someone/something out) to prevent someone or something from entering a place  (Paula packed the bottom of the doors with blankets to shut out the draught. | heavy curtains that shut out the sunlight) 3 (shut something out) to stop yourself from thinking about or noticing something, so that you are not affected by it  (When she's reading, she seems to be able to shut out the rest of the world.) 4 (shut out someone) AmE to defeat an opposing team and prevent them from getting any points  (The Chicago Bears shut out the Broncos.) shut up phr v 1 shut up! spoken used to tell someone rudely to stop talking  (Oh, shut up! I don't want to hear your excuses.) + abou  (We know you won, but just shut up about it, okay!) 2 T shut someone up) to make someone stop talking or be quiet  (The only way to shut Philippa up was to give her something to eat.) 3 T shut up someone) to keep someone in a place away from other people, and prevent them from leaving  (I've had a terrible cold and been shut up in my room for a week.) 4 T shut something 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 informal BrE to close a business or stop working, at the end of the day or permanently ~2 adj (not usually before noun 1 not open; closed  (Is the door shut properly? | He sat with his eyes shut. | blow/slam/bang shut)  (The door slammed shut behind him. | pull/kick/slide etc sth shut)  (Jenny pulled the window shut.) 2 BrE not open for business; closed AmE  (It's 6.30 pm and the banks are shut.) + for  (The first four hotels we tried were shut for the winter.)