shut

Fetched 2026-10-29 (live).

Datamuse reports no synonyms or antonyms for this word.

Verb

1. 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.
   • They shut the road for the festival.
   • If you wait too long, the automatic door will shut.
   • He has shut his mind to new ideas.
   • They generally shut the museum each day at 6 pm.
   • The supermarket shuts at eight o'clock.
   • Lots of shops in the town centre have shut because of the recession.
   • We are shutting the phone lines at 9 pm.
   • They shut the airport because of a bomb scare.
   • Phone lines will shut in ten minutes.
   • Shut the file when you have finished reading data.
   • This app has a bug: when you try to sort a large spreadsheet, it shuts.
2. 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.
   • They shut the road for the festival.
   • If you wait too long, the automatic door will shut.
3. To make or become unreceptive.
   • He has shut his mind to new ideas.
4. 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.
   • Lots of shops in the town centre have shut because of the recession.
5. 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.
6. To cease operation or cease to be available.
   • Phone lines will shut in ten minutes.
7. 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.
8. To catch or snag in the act of shutting something.
   • He's just gone and shut his finger in the door!
9. To confine in an enclosed area; to enclose.
   • I shut the cat in the kitchen before going out.
10. To isolate, to close off from the world.
11. To preclude, exclude.
12. Synonym of shut up (“to stop talking or arguing”).
13. simple past and past participle of shut

Adjective

1. 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.
   • Pleas keep your mouth shut while you are eating.
   • A book lay shut on the table.
   • I had to shut my eyes against the light.
   • Phone lines are now shut.
   • Banks are shut on bank holidays.
   • The museum is shut for the Christmas holidays.
   • He mind is shut to new ideas.
2. Physically sealed, obstructed, folded together, etc.
   • A shut door barred our way into the house.
   • The door banged shut with a breeze.
   • Pleas keep your mouth shut while you are eating.
   • A book lay shut on the table.
   • I had to shut my eyes against the light.
3. Not available for use or operation.
   • Phone lines are now shut.
4. 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.
5. Not receptive.
   • He mind is shut to new ideas.
6. Of a club, bat or other hitting implement, angled downwards and/or (for a right-hander) anticlockwise of straight.
7. Synonym of close.
8. Synonym of close.
9. Archaic form of shot (“discharged, cleared, rid of something”).

Noun

1. The act or time of shutting; close.
   • the shut of a door
2. A door or cover; a shutter. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
3. The line or place where two pieces of metal are welded together.

Noun

1. A narrow alley or passage acting as a short cut through the buildings between two streets.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wiktionary) · cached copy, not a rewrite.