SHUT (shutting)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: shutting   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shut mean? 

• SHUT (adjective)
  The adjective SHUT has 2 senses:

1. not open

2. used especially of mouth or eyes

  Familiarity information: SHUT used as an adjective is rare.

• SHUT (verb)
  The verb SHUT has 3 senses:

1. move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut

2. become closed

3. prevent from entering; shut out

  Familiarity information: SHUT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHUT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not open

Synonyms:

closed; shut; unopen

Context example:

the door slammed shut

Also:

closed (not open or affording passage or access)

Antonym:

open (affording unobstructed entrance and exit; not shut or closed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Used especially of mouth or eyes

Synonyms:

closed; shut

Context example:

his eyes were shut against the sunlight

Similar:

blinking; winking (closing the eyes intermittently and rapidly)

compressed; tight (pressed tightly together)

squinched; squinting (having eyes half closed in order to see better)

• SHUT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they shut    ... he / she / it shuts   
Past simple: shut   
Past participle: shut   
-ing form: shutting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

close; shut

Context example:

shut the window

Cause:

close; shut (become closed)

Verb group:

close; shut (become closed)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shut"):

snap (close with a snapping motion)

slat (close the slats of (windows))

bang; slam (close violently)

shutter (close with shutters)

draw (move or pull so as to cover or uncover something)

roll up (close (a car window) by causing it to move up, as with a handle)

bung (close with a cork or stopper)

seal; seal off (make tight; secure against leakage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They want to shut the doors

Also:

shut in (surround completely)

shut up (place in a place where something cannot be removed or someone cannot escape)

Derivation:

shutter (a hinged blind for a window)

shutter (a mechanical device on a camera that opens and closes to control the time of a photographic exposure)

shutting (the act of closing something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become closed

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

close; shut

Context example:

The windows closed with a loud bang

Hypernyms (to "shut" is one way to...):

change state; turn (undergo a transformation or a change of position or action)

Verb group:

close; shut (move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

The doors shut

Derivation:

shutter (a mechanical device on a camera that opens and closes to control the time of a photographic exposure)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Prevent from entering; shut out

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

exclude; keep out; shut; shut out

Context example:

This policy excludes people who have a criminal record from entering the country

Hypernyms (to "shut" is one way to...):

keep; prevent (stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shut"):

curse; excommunicate; unchurch (exclude from a church or a religious community)

lock out (prevent employees from working during a strike)

ostracise; ostracize (avoid speaking to or dealing with)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

shutter (a mechanical device on a camera that opens and closes to control the time of a photographic exposure)

 Context examples 

She went away to get it; when the door was shut upon her he said to me:—We mean the same! speak out!

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I stopped, for I did not know what was coming, and saw the galley door slide shut with a bang.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“What an excellent father you have, girls!” said she, when the door was shut.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

"The white man's eyes are not shut," he began.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

‘Ay, we’ll just ask ye when we want ye,’ said she, and shut the door in my face.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The box was shut, locked, and returned to the bedroom.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was very willing to have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for the address that was given us in the advertisement.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I've had a bad cold, and been shut up a week.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Then it shut off as suddenly as it began.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I lingered; the moon shut herself wholly within her chamber, and drew close her curtain of dense cloud: the night grew dark; rain came driving fast on the gale.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)