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Consult Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, The Chambers Thesaurus (1996) or Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1997 edition with amendments). Enter your search and choose your title from the drop-down menu.
shut verb (shut, shutting) 1 tr & intr to place or move so as to close an opening • shut the door. 2 tr & intr to close or make something close over, denying access to the contents or inside • shut the cupboard • shut the book. 3 tr & intr (often shut up) not to allow access to something; to forbid entrance into it • shut up the building • The office shuts at weekends. 4 to fasten or bar; to lock. 5 to bring together the parts or outer parts of something • Shut your eyes • I can't shut the clasp. 6 to confine • He shuts himself in his room for hours. 7 to catch or pinch in a fastening • I shut my finger in the window. 8 to end or terminate the operations of (a business, etc). 9 intrans said of a business, etc: to cease to operate; to terminate. adj 1 not open; closed. 2 made fast; secure. shut it slang to be quiet.
ETYMOLOGY: Anglo-Saxon scyttan to bar.
shut someone away to isolate or confine them • He shuts himself away in his study day and night. shut something away to keep it hidden or concealed • All the valuables are shut away in the attic. shut down or shut something down to stop or make it stop working or operating, either for a time or permanently. See also shutdown. shut someone or something in to enclose or confine them or it • Remember to shut the cat in tonight. shut something off to switch it off; to stop the flow of it. See also shut-off. shut someone or something out 1 to prevent them or it entering a room, building, etc. 2 to exclude them or it. 3 to block out (eg light). shut up colloq to stop speaking. shut someone up 1 colloq to make them stop speaking; to reduce them to silence. 2 to confine them. shut something up to close and lock (premises), either for a time or permanently • shut up shop. |
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The Chambers Dictionary (13th edition)
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The Chambers Thesaurus
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Chambers Biographical Dictionary
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Consult Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, The Chambers Thesaurus (1996) or Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1997 edition with amendments). Enter your search and choose your title from the drop-down menu.
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