shut

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   not open

   the door slammed shut

2. 2
   verb

   move so that an opening or passage is obstructed

   make shut

3. 3
   verb

   prevent from entering

   shut out

4. 4
   verb

   To close, in various senses.

   Please shut the door.

5. 5
   verb

   To catch or snag in the act of shutting something.

   He's just gone and shut his finger in the door!

6. 6
   verb

   To confine in an enclosed area; to enclose.

   I shut the cat in the kitchen before going out.

7. 7
   verb

   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, […]

8. 8
   verb

   To preclude, exclude.

   shut from every shore

Etymology

From Middle English schitten, schetten, from Old English scyttan (“to cause rapid movement, shoot a bolt, shut, bolt”), 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”).