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”).
Meanings
(not-comparable) Closed, not open, in any of various senses. ▸ Physically sealed, obstructed, folded together, etc.
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.
A shut door barred our way into the house.
(not-comparable) Closed, not open, in any of various senses. ▸ Not available for use or operation.
Phone lines are now shut.
(not-comparable, of a business or venue) Closed, not open, in any of various senses. ▸ Not operating or conducting trade; not allowing entrance to visitors or the public.
The museum is shut for the Christmas holidays.
Banks are shut on bank holidays.
(not-comparable) Closed, not open, in any of various senses. ▸ Not receptive.
He mind is shut to new ideas.
(especially, not-comparable) 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.
(archaic, not-comparable) Synonym of close.
Whenever a syllable is formed with a long, that is an open vowel, they account the syllable long; and whenever formed with a short, that is a shut vowel, they reckon it short. 1810, Benjamin Humphrey Smart, A practical grammar of English pronunciation, page 344:
(alt-of, archaic, not-comparable) Archaic form of shot (“discharged, cleared, rid of something”).
When he asked her, she said, she thanked God he was dead, (the woman was glad to get shut of him) and said he died of an ague and fever. 1813, Thomas Bayly Howell, Cobbett's Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors, page 507:
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”).
Meanings
The act or time of shutting; close.
the shut of a door
Just then returnd at ſhut of Evening Flours. 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
A door or cover; a shutter.
The line or place where two pieces of metal are welded together.
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”).
Meanings
(intransitive, transitive) To close, in various senses. ▸ To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
If you wait too long, the automatic door will shut.
The light was so bright I had to shut my eyes.
They shut the road for the festival.
Please shut the door.
(intransitive, transitive) To close, in various senses. ▸ To make or become unreceptive.
He has shut his mind to new ideas.
(UK, intransitive, transitive) To close, in various senses. ▸ To close (a business or venue) temporarily or permanently.
The supermarket shuts at eight o'clock.
Lots of shops in the town centre have shut because of the recession.
They generally shut the museum each day at 6 pm.
(intransitive, transitive) 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.
(intransitive, transitive) To close, in various senses. ▸ To cease operation or cease to be available.
Phone lines will shut in ten minutes.
(ergative, intransitive, qualifier:more usually 'close', transitive) 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.
(transitive) To catch or snag in the act of shutting something.
He's just gone and shut his finger in the door!
(transitive) To confine in an enclosed area; to enclose.
I shut the cat in the kitchen before going out.
(transitive) To isolate, to close off from the world.
Now, sometimes in my sorrow shut,
Or breaking into song by fits;
Alone, alone, to where he sits,
The Shadow cloak’d from head to foot
Who keeps the keys of all the creeds,
I wander, often falling lame, […] 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 39:
(transitive) To preclude, exclude.
shut from every shore 1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
(colloquial) Synonym of shut up (“to stop talking or arguing”).
DD, what an idiot, please shut and quit distracting me with your drivel. 1998 April 11, racerX66, “Speedvision Coverage”, in rec.autos.sport.f1 (Usenet), archived from the original on 03 Jul 2026:
now if you could produce any scholarly works that substantiate your rather uninformed claim, please do so. if you can't, please shut, because you don't know what you're talking about. 2005 June 9, j r sherman, “Usenet Poets: 1999 [t o r m e n s h u m a n u m]”, in alt.arts.poetry.urban (Usenet), archived from the original on 03 Jul 2026:
Yes, BT's caller ID *does* send CLI before ringing, that is the major advantage of it, but if you don't realise that there are TWO standards in use in the UK (Bellcore's standard is alive and kicking right here in good ol' UK), then please shut and stop spouting on about something you know nothing about. 1998 October 13, S J Watkins, “Q. Sky digibox and Phone line”, in alt.satellite.tv.europe (Usenet), archived from the original on 03 Jul 2026:
(form-of, participle, past) simple past and past participle of shut
reshut (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shut up shop (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut your face (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut away (phrasal verbs derived from shut) · shut in (phrasal verbs derived from shut) · outshut (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shut one's eyes to (multiword terms derived from shut) · cut-and-shut (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut one's head (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut your trap (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut of (phrasal verbs derived from shut) · shut the front door (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut one's trap (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut the door on (multiword terms derived from shut) · shutter (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shut the box (multiword terms derived from shut) · forshut (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shut the stable door after the horse has bolted (multiword terms derived from shut) · beshut (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · upshut (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shut-down (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shut-in (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shut down (phrasal verbs derived from shut) · shut one's face (multiword terms derived from shut) · shutout (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shut one's eyes (multiword terms derived from shut) · shutdown (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shut-eye (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shut out (phrasal verbs derived from shut) · shut one's gob (multiword terms derived from shut) · open-and-shut (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut my mouth (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut-out (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shuttle (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shut your mouth (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut one's eyes and think of England (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut it (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut the door (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut the fridge (multiword terms derived from shut) · shut up (phrasal verbs derived from shut) · shut one's mouth (multiword terms derived from shut) · shuttabl (single words and hyphenated compounds derived from shut) · shut off (phrasal verbs derived from shut)
fa بستن ((transitive) to close) · nl sluiten ((transitive) to close) · lo ອັດ ((transitive) to close) · dlm seruar ((transitive) to close) · nds dichtmoken ((transitive) to close) · it chiudere ((transitive) to close) · id menyumpal ((transitive) to close) · enm schitten ((transitive) to close) · kmr daêxistin ((transitive) to close) · mi kati ((transitive) to close) · pt fechar ((transitive) to close) · sl zapreti ((transitive) to close) · tg бастан ((transitive) to close) · is loka ((transitive) to close) · mt għalaq ((transitive) to close) · th งับ ((transitive) to close) · te మూయు ((transitive) to close) · id menutup ((transitive) to close) · uk зачини́ти ((transitive) to close) · rm serrar ((transitive) to close) · kmr girtin ((transitive) to close) · et sulgema ((transitive) to close) · ast zarrar ((transitive) to close) · chr ᎠᏍᏚᎲᏍᎦ ((transitive) to close) · ne बन्द गर्नु ((transitive) to close) · ar اِنْغَلَقَ ((intransitive) to close, to stop being open) · yue 關 /关 ((transitive) to close) · kk жабу ((transitive) to close) · ms membungkam ((transitive) to close) · ht fèmen ((transitive) to close) · as জপোৱা ((transitive) to close) · vec serar ((transitive) to close) · ota قاپامق ((transitive) to close) · lmo sarà ((transitive) to close) · uz bekitmoq ((transitive) to close) · mi kōpani ((transitive) to close) · pl zamknąć ((transitive) to close) · sh затворити ((transitive) to close) · rm sarar ((transitive) to close) · as বন্ধ কৰা ((transitive) to close) · ckb داخستن ((transitive) to close) · ms mengatup ((transitive) to close) · bg затва́рям ((transitive) to close) · ky бекитүү ((transitive) to close) · az bağlamaq ((transitive) to close) · sh zatvoriti ((transitive) to close) · nds slüten ((transitive) to close) · lv aizvērt ((transitive) to close) · cs zavřít ((transitive) to close) · tk ýapmak ((transitive) to close) · ar أَغْلَقَ ((transitive) to close) · nds tomaken ((transitive) to close) · az örtmək ((transitive) to close) · bn বন্ধ করা ((transitive) to close) · az qapamaq ((transitive) to close) · yi פֿאַרמאַכן ((transitive) to close) · tr kapatmak ((transitive) to close) · uk закри́ти ((transitive) to close) · tg пӯшидан ((transitive) to close) · la claudō ((transitive) to close) · uz yopmoq ((transitive) to close) · mi kamu ((transitive) to close) · hy փակել ((transitive) to close) · af toemaak ((transitive) to close) · sq mbyll ((transitive) to close) · km បិទ ((transitive) to close) · pl zamykać ((transitive) to close) · da lukke ((transitive) to close) · hi बंद करना ((transitive) to close) · fr fermer ((transitive) to close) · fi sulkea ((transitive) to close) · el κλείνω ((transitive) to close) · ang scyttan ((transitive) to close) · ky жабуу ((transitive) to close) · ast cerrar ((transitive) to close) · be зачыні́ць ((transitive) to close) · ko 닫다 ((transitive) to close) · grc κλείω ((transitive) to close) · lt uždaryti ((transitive) to close) · arz قفل ((transitive) to close) · mi kapiti ((transitive) to close) · de schließen ((transitive) to close) · be зачыня́ць ((transitive) to close) · mi whakaweto ((transitive) to close) · sk zavrieť ((transitive) to close) · id membungkam ((transitive) to close) · eo fermi ((transitive) to close) · ota یوممق ((transitive) to close) · it serrare ((transitive) to close) · cmn 關閉 /关闭 ((transitive) to close) · fur sierâ ((transitive) to close) · af sluit ((transitive) to close) · gl pechar ((transitive) to close) · uga 𐎒𐎂𐎗 ((transitive) to close) · nds tomoken ((transitive) to close) · nb stenge ((transitive) to close) · kmr daxistin ((transitive) to close) · cmn 關 /关 ((transitive) to close) · bg затварям се ((intransitive) to close, to stop being open) · nl dichtklappen ((transitive) to close) · ka დახურვა ((transitive) to close) · sv stänga ((transitive) to close) · mn хаах ((transitive) to close) · ja 閉める ((transitive) to close) · uk закрива́ти ((transitive) to close) · ga iaigh ((transitive) to close) · th ปิด ((transitive) to close) · vi đóng ((transitive) to close) · ur بند کرنا ((transitive) to close) · he סָגַר ((transitive) to close) · cmn 閉 /闭 ((transitive) to close) · mi tō ((transitive) to close) · ru закры́ть ((transitive) to close) · cy cau ((transitive) to close) · es cerrar ((transitive) to close) · ru закрыва́ть ((transitive) to close) · uk зачиня́ти ((transitive) to close) · si වහනවා ((transitive) to close) · mi kupi ((transitive) to close) · de zumachen ((transitive) to close) · scn chiùdiri ((transitive) to close) · ota اورتمك ((transitive) to close) · my ပိတ် ((transitive) to close) · ms menutup ((transitive) to close) · ja 閉まる ((intransitive) to close, to stop being open) · tk örtmek ((transitive) to close) · hu becsuk ((transitive) to close) · nds sluten ((transitive) to close) · ja 閉じる ((transitive) to close) · eu itxi ((transitive) to close) · mi kiwa ((transitive) to close) · ga dún ((transitive) to close) · as মুদা ((transitive) to close) · enm schitten ((intransitive) to close, to stop being open) · yi שליסן ((transitive) to close) · nds dichtmaken ((transitive) to close) · tpi pasim ((transitive) to close) · mk за́твори ((transitive) to close) · th หุบ ((transitive) to close) · vec sarar ((transitive) to close) · gd dùin ((transitive) to close)