shut
shut Lexical Profile
shut Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Moved into position so as to block an opening; closed or fastened.
"Please make sure all the windows are tight shut before the storm arrives."
Not currently open for business or public access.
"We walked all the way to the museum only to find that it was shut for renovations."
• verb
To move something into position so as to block an opening; to close.
"She quietly shut the bedroom door so she would not wake the sleeping baby."
To bring together the parts of something, such as a book, umbrella, or one's eyes, so that it is folded or no longer spread open.
"He shut his textbook with a sigh after studying for three hours straight."
To cease operating or working for the day or permanently (of a business, shop, or institution).
"The local library shuts at five o'clock on Saturdays."
To confine or enclose someone or something within a place or barrier, or to exclude them from it.
"They shut the chickens inside the coop before nightfall to keep them safe."
• noun
The act or time of closing something, or the line or seam formed where two welded pieces of metal unite.
"The blacksmith carefully inspected the shut in the iron rod to ensure the weld had no weak spots."
Word Nuance & Usage
As an adjective, 'shut' is typically used only in a predicative position (after a linking verb, as in 'the door is shut'), whereas 'closed' can be used both attributively ('a closed door') and predicatively.
• Rhymes for shut
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from Old English 'scyttan', meaning to shoot a bolt, bar, or shut, from the Proto-Germanic root '*skutjanan', which is closely related to the verb 'shoot'.