Shut Door ʃʌt Close Eyes Open Verb Window

• the window won't shut.
• the doors open and shut automatically.
• the door shuts and locks behind her.
• philip went into his room and shut the door behind him.

shut

Verb Forms

1. to close something; to become closed
• The window won't shut.
• The doors open and shut automatically.
• The door shuts and locks behind her.
• Philip went into his room and shut the door behind him.
• I can't shut my suitcase—it's too full.
• She shut her eyes and fell asleep immediately.
• He shut his book and looked up.
2. when a shop, restaurant, etc. shuts or when somebody shuts it, it stops being open for business and you cannot go into it
• The bank shuts at 4.
• What time do the shops shut on Saturday?
• We left the hotel only to discover that the whole city shuts at 10.30.
• The factory is going to shut next year.
• We decided to shut the cafe early as there were no customers.
• They're going to shut two plants in Texas and fire 2 240 workers.
3. to make it unlikely that something will happen
• She was careful not to close the door on the possibility of further talks.
4. to not talk about something to somebody because it is a secret or because it will upset or annoy them
• I've warned them to keep their mouths shut about this.
• Now she's upset—why couldn't you keep your mouth shut?
• The athletes were warned to keep their mouths shut about politics.
5. to shut a door hard when somebody is trying to come in
6. to refuse to talk to somebody or meet them, in a rude way
7. to make it unlikely that something will happen
• She was careful not to shut the door on the possibility of further talks.
8. to refuse to listen to something
• She decided to shut her ears to all the rumours.
9. to pretend that you have not noticed something so that you do not have to deal with it
• You can't just close your eyes to his violence.
• They seem intent on shutting their eyes to the problems of pollution.
10. a rude way of telling somebody to be quiet or stop talking
11. to close a business permanently or to stop working for the day
12. very easily, without thinking about it
• I've made this trip so often, I could do it with my eyes shut.

Word Origin

• Old English scyttan ‘put (a bolt) in position to hold fast’, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch schutten ‘shut up, obstruct’, also to shoot.