shut.
To close, in various senses.
Meaning & usage
To close, in various senses. To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
Please shut the door.
The light was so bright I had to shut my eyes.
To close, in various senses. To make or become unreceptive.
He has shut his mind to new ideas.
To close, in various senses. To close (a business or venue) temporarily or permanently.
They generally shut the museum each day at 6 pm.
The supermarket shuts at eight o'clock.
To close, in various senses. To put out of use or operation.
We are shutting the phone lines at 9 pm.
They shut the airport because of a bomb scare.
To close, in various senses. To cease operation or cease to be available.
Phone lines will shut in ten minutes.
To close, in various senses. To terminate an application, window, file or database connection, etc.
Shut the file when you have finished reading data.
This app has a bug: when you try to sort a large spreadsheet, it shuts.
To catch or snag in the act of shutting something.
He's just gone and shut his finger in the door!
To confine in an enclosed area; to enclose.
I shut the cat in the kitchen before going out.
To isolate, to close off from the world.
To preclude, exclude.
Synonym of shut up (“to stop talking or arguing”).
simple past and past participle of shut
Where this word comes from
From Middle English schitten, schetten, from Old English sċyttan (“to cause rapid movement, shoot a bolt, shut, bolt”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuttjan, 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”). The Modern English word was originally a dialect form; the Old English word would have normally merged with shit. Cognate with Dutch schutten (“to shut in, lock up”), Low German schütten (“to shut, lock in”), German schützen (“to shut out, dam, protect, guard”).
Closed, not open, in any of various senses. Physically sealed, obstructed, folded together, etc.
A shut door barred our way into the house.
The door banged shut with a breeze.
Closed, not open, in any of various senses. Not available for use or operation.
Phone lines are now shut.
Closed, not open, in any of various senses. Not operating or conducting trade; not allowing entrance to visitors or the public.
Banks are shut on bank holidays.
The museum is shut for the Christmas holidays.
Closed, not open, in any of various senses. Not receptive.
He mind is shut to new ideas.
Closed, not open, in any of various senses. Of a club, bat or other hitting implement, angled downwards and/or (for a right-hander) anticlockwise of straight.
Synonym of close.
Synonym of close.
Archaic form of shot (“discharged, cleared, rid of something”).
Where this word comes from
From Middle English schitten, schetten, from Old English sċyttan (“to cause rapid movement, shoot a bolt, shut, bolt”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuttjan, 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”). The Modern English word was originally a dialect form; the Old English word would have normally merged with shit. Cognate with Dutch schutten (“to shut in, lock up”), Low German schütten (“to shut, lock in”), German schützen (“to shut out, dam, protect, guard”).
The act or time of shutting; close.
the shut of a door
A door or cover; a shutter.
The line or place where two pieces of metal are welded together.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English schitten, schetten, from Old English sċyttan (“to cause rapid movement, shoot a bolt, shut, bolt”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuttjan, 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”). The Modern English word was originally a dialect form; the Old English word would have normally merged with shit. Cognate with Dutch schutten (“to shut in, lock up”), Low German schütten (“to shut, lock in”), German schützen (“to shut out, dam, protect, guard”).
A narrow alley or passage acting as a short cut through the buildings between two streets.
Where this word comes from
Variation of chute or shute (archaic, related to shoot) from Old English scēotan.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.