shut (sh?t)v. shut, shut·ting, shuts v.tr.1. a. To move (a door or lid, for example) so as to block passage through an opening.b. To fasten with a lock, catch, or latch: shut the cabinet.2. To block entrance to or exit from; close: shut a corridor.3. To confine in a closed space: shut them in a cage.4. To exclude from a closed space: shut the cats out of the house.5. To fold up or bring together the parts of: shut the book.6. To cause to stop operating: shut down a restaurant; a school that was shut for the vacation.v.intr.1. To move or become moved so as to block passage; close: a door that shuts by itself.2. To stop operating, especially automatically: The electricity shuts off at midnight.n.1. The act or time of shutting.2. The line of connection between welded pieces of metal.Phrasal Verbs: shut off1. To stop the flow or passage of; cut off: shut off the hot water by closing a valve.2. To close off; isolate: loners who shut themselves off from the community. shut out Sports To prevent (an opponent) from scoring any runs or points. shut up1. To cause (someone) to stop speaking; silence.2. To stop speaking.Idiom: shut (one’s) eyes to To refuse to consider or acknowledge: administrators who shut their eyes to pervasive corruption.[Middle English shutten, from Old English scyttan; see skeud- in Indo-European roots.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.shut up vb (adverb) 1. (tr) to prevent all access to2. (tr) to confine or imprison3. informal to cease to talk or make a noise or cause to cease to talk or make a noise: often used in commands4. (Horse Racing) (intr) (of horses in a race) to cease through exhaustion from maintaining a racing paceCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014