▪ I. shut, n.
(ʃʌt)
Forms: α. 7–8 shutt, 8 shoot, 7– shut; β. 5 schett.
[f. shut v.]
1. Something which shuts off or closes up. † a. A locking-bar or bolt. Obs.
| c 1460 Promp. Parv. (Winch.) 315 On-doyng, or onpynnynge schettis or sperellys, apparicio. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xxi. §67 With what key K. Henry opened the golden shut of the Popes Consistory for his free accesse,..I cannot say. 1662 Comenius' Janua Ling. Triling. 100 As you come to the gate on both the sides are the posts; and in one of them the hinges..but in the other are the shuts (shutting bars) [L. claustra]. 1845 Disraeli Sybil iii. iv, He knocked the corner of a lock into my head twice, once with a bolt and once with a shut; you know what that is; the thing what runs into the staple. |
b. A shutter for a window. Now dial. (See Eng. Dial. Dict.)
| 1611 Cotgr., Volet..also a shut, or woodden window to shut ouer a glasse one. 1655 tr. Sorel's Com. Hist. Francion iii. 67 A small window, which never had a shut [orig. volet]. 1690 W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 414 Open the shut. |
c. gen. A hinged or sliding door or plate for closing an aperture; † a valve. Also in Mining: see quot. 1886.
| 1651 Life Sarpi (1676) 18 Those inward shuts or folds that are within the Veins. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xvii. (Roxb.) 105/2 A Morion..with a shut to secure the face. 1691 Ray Creation ii. (1704) 304 Therefore were there no Shuts or Stopples made for the Ears. 1715 Desaguliers Fires Improv. 121 You may have two Shuts if you will, made..to shut up, or open both Holes. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 267 A small sliding shut should be made in the partition. 1886 J. Barrowman Sc. Mining Terms 60 Shuts, movable or hinged supports for the cage at a pithead. |
† 2. An enclosure; a stew for fish. Obs.
| 1605 Camden Rem., Surnames 102 Shot or Shvt, A Keepe [Munster]. 1662 Comenius' Janua Ling. Triling. 85 Then part of the fish he sells, part he shuts up in his shuts. |
3. The action, time, or place of shutting. Chiefly poet., the close (of day), the closing in (of evening).
| 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 278 As in a shady nook I stood behind, Just then returned at shut of evening flowers. 1690 Dryden Amphit. ii. i, I have been in an Ague fit, ever since shut of Evening. 1742 Blair Grave 764 At the Shut of Ev'n, the weary Bird Leaves the wide Air. 1819 Keats Hyperion ii. 36 When the chill rain begins at shut of eve. 1869 Whittier Norembega 19 At shut of day a Christian knight Upon his henchman leaned. 1899 Meredith Cageing Ares Poet. Wks. (1912) 522 Whereof they won, From hourly wrestlings up to shut of lids, Her ready secret. |
4. A join, mend, splice; a weld, the line of junction of two pieces of welded metal. cold shut, an imperfect weld due to chill; an imperfection in a casting, caused by the flow of liquid metal on a chilled surface.
| 1721 Perry Daggenh. Breach 60 To joint close into the Grooves..and make an effectual Shut like one entire Sheet of Timber. 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 114 The entire length and shape were produced without a shut. 1877 W. Richards Manuf. Coal Gas 217 The castings must be free from any imperfections, such as honeycombs, ‘cold shuts’, cracks, or flaws. |
5. dial. A riddance; esp. in phr. a good shut. (Cf. shut v. 11 and shuttance.)
6. Comb., as shut-knife dial., a clasp-knife, a pocket-knife.
| 1879 J. Spilling Johnny's Jaunt i. 8, I took out my shet-knife and cut her a..huncheon off the loaf. 1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers vii. 210 But they managed to procure a loaf and a currant-loaf, which they hacked into pieces with shut-knives, and ate sitting on the wall near the bridge. 1979 in R. Blythe View in Winter i. 63 He'd whittle away at things... He was that cliver [sic] with his shutknife. |
▪ II. shut, n.2 Shropsh. dial.
(ʃʌt)
Also † shut(t)e.
[ME. shute, f. OE. scyte: see shute n.1 For earlier references to the word in surnames and place-names outside Shropshire, see M.E.D. s.v. shute n. (e).]
A narrow alley-way or passage, often serving as a short cut between two streets.
| 1300 in T. F. Dukes Antiq. Shropsh. (1844) App. p. xvii, Et sic per quandam viam usque le mersiche justa Andolph Shute. a 1500 in Trans. Shropsh. Archæol. Soc. (1882) 106 Per Watling strete usque le Wodewardes Shutte. 1700 in Shropsh. Parish Reg.: Diocese of Lichfield XV. 590, Oct. 27. John, s. of John & Mary Roe, in baret's shut..borne. c 1817 in G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-Bk. (1879–81) 379 A shut in Shrewsbury language denotes, not, as might be imagined, a cul-de-sac, or alley shut at one end, but, on the contrary, one open at both extremities. 1882 J. Randall Severn Valley ix. 185 They lean and nod and sometimes touch, forming dark arcades, locally known as ‘shuts’. 1922 S. Weyman Ovington's Bank iii. 35 The alleys—dubbed in Aldersbury ‘shuts’. |
▪ III. shut, v.
(ʃʌt)
Pa. tense and pple. shut. Forms: pres. stem α. 1 scyttan, 3–4 schutte, 4–5 s(c)hitte, 4–6 shutte, 5–6 shytt(e, shyt, (also 9 dial.) shit, (5 schytte, 6 schut, shute, shot), 7 shutt, 6– shut; β. 4 ssette, (3 sing. pres. ind. 4 sset, imp. 3 scete, 4 ssete), 4–5 schette, 4–6 shette, (6 Sc. schet), 5–6, 9 dial. shet; γ. 4–5 schete, 4–6 shete, 6 sheet. pa. tense. α. 1 -scytte, 4–5 schutte, s(c)hitte, (4 shutte, 4, 6 shytt, 5 shyt, s(c)hytte, 6 shutt), 5– shut; β. 3–6 shette, 4–5 schette, 5 schet(t, shet; β. 4 schittide, 5 shytted, 9 dial. shutted. pa. pple. α. 2 -scutted, 4–5 shyt, 5–6 shutte, (4 schit(t, schytte, 5 -yschutte, shytte, shit(t)e, 6 shyt(t, shitt), 5–6 shutte, (also 9 dial.) shit, 6–7 shutt, 5– shut; β. 4–5 ischet, (4 ys(c)het, yscheot, ysset, ischette, schet(t), 4–6 shette, schet, (also 9 dial.) shet, 5–6 shett; γ. 6 sheet; δ. 5 schowt(?), 6 shott, 6, 9 dial. shot; ε. 7– (now dial. and arch.) shutten.
[OE. scyttan (more freq. in the compound forscyttan forshut):—prehistoric *skuttjan, f. *skut- wk. grade of the root of shoot v. Cf. OFris. schetta (WFris. skette, sketsje), (M)LG., (M)Du. schutten to shut, shut up, obstruct. (The formal coincidence of the MHG. and mod.G. schützen to protect is prob. accidental.)
The normal representation of OE. scyttan would be shit; down to the 16th c. this was the prevailing form, though the Kentish shette (used by Chaucer and Gower) was also very common. The mod. form appears to have been originally West Midland.]
I. The simple verb.
† 1. trans. To put (a lock, bar, bolt, etc.) in position so as to fasten a door, etc. Obs. (Cf. shoot v. 13.)
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. xxxvii. (Z.) 220 Sero (seras) ic scytte sum loc oððe hæpsiᵹe. c 1370 Gregorius (Horstm.) 669 Þe Fisschere on his feire feet þe lok schutte ful faste i wis. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 3084 Tvnshetten & to shette ageyn Lokkys echon. 1633 Rutherford Lett. iii. (1675) 193, I have gotten now, honour to my Lord, the gate to open the store, and shut the bar of his door. |
† 2. To fasten (a door or aperture) with a lock or bar. Obs.
| c 1320 Sir Beues 3031 A..schette þe dore wiþ þe keie. c 1400 Gamelyn 292 And thanne was it y-schet faste with a pin. 1474 Caxton Chesse iii. viii. (1883) 149 The cheste that was shette wyth iii lockis. 1509 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 477 A stronge Chest..having iiij lockes and iiij keyes to shete and open the same. 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 74 The Door is shut with a piece of Felt. 1825 Scott Betrothed xxi, By keeping doors shut. |
| absol. 1637 Milton Lycidas 111 Two massy keys he bore of metals twain (The golden opes, the iron shuts amain). |
3. a. To bring (a door, gate, window, lid, etc.) into the position in which it closes the aperture. to shut fast: to shut so that it cannot easily be opened. Also (orig. U.S.) in pa. pple. with verbs of movement, as draw, push, etc., denoting completion of an action; equivalent to to adv. 4.
As words like door, gate, etc. usually admit of being used for the aperture together with that which closes it, this sense passes into sense 7.
| c 1200 Vices & Virtues 143 Ga into þine bedde..and scete ðe dure. 13.. K. Alis. 5821 (W.) The men of that cite..ronnen to her gates fast, And hem shetten wel on hast. Ibid. 6185 In the water is heore gates;..Whan hit is flod, y-scheot [Laud yshet] they beoth. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 529, I fond a wiket smal So shet that I ne mighte in goon. c 1369 ― Dethe Blaunche 335 My wyndowes were shette [v.rr. shet, shyt] echon. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 67 Þer nys noon þat shittiþ frely þe doris of þe temple. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1094 Thogh his dore be noght shit. c 1440 Generydes 5773 The gates ar all shett of that Citee. 1483 Cely Papers (Camden) 141 They schytte the gattes. 1521 Cov. Leet-bk. 669 The gates of the Citee shal-be shot euery nyght at viij of the clok. 1526 Tindale Luke xi. 7 Nowe is the dore shett. a 1539 in Archæologia XLVII. 52 That doore..contynually to stand shitt the tymes of dyvyne seruice. 1577 Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. iii. 119 b, The windowes.. being kept shut in winter. 1629 Maxwell tr. Herodian (1635) 53 The Citizens..shut their doores. 1647 Trapp Comm., Heb. iv. 1 When the gate is shut. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 240 Fast we found, fast shut The dismal Gates, and barricado'd strong. 1737 Gentl. Mag. VII. 608/2 The Gate used to be kept shut. 1829 Scott Anne of G. xxxiv, He would not even condescend to shut his gates. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair liv, The publican shutting his shutters. 1884 Century Mag. Nov. 13 He..pushed the ground⁓glass door shut. 1895 P. Hemingway Out of Egypt i. iii. 26 Every house had its green blinds closely shut. 1902 O. Wister Virginian xiv. 163 Our wheels clucked over the main-line switch. A train-hand threw it shut after. 1911 H. S. Harrison Queed ii. 23 The last boarder rising drew shut the folding-doors into the parlor. 1933 E. O'Neill Ah, Wilderness! i. 18 She slams the door shut. 1957 T. Slessor First Overland 256 We slam shut the windows, as the car slides down through the rocks. |
| absol. 1388 Wyclif Isa. xxii. 22 He schal opene, and noon schal be that schal schitte. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Sutherl. I. 110 The servants by their pointed civilities, their zealous activity in opening and shutting,..declared the joyous moment at hand. |
b. const. against, † to (or dative), upon (a person, etc., to prevent his ingress or exit, or access to him).
| 1340 Ayenb. 210 Huanne þou sselt bidde god..ine þine herte, ssete þe dore ope þe. c 1450 Knt. de la Tour 145 They fonde the gatis shette and closed ayenst hem. 1518 Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.) II. 132 Wyllyam..shytt the doore to hym. 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Pet. ii. 5. 580 The Lord..himselfe shut the doore of the Arke upon Noah. 1737 Gentl. Mag. VII. 467/1 He finds the Gates shut against him. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxvi, She walked out of the room with a most majestic air, and shut her own door briskly on herself. 1876 Besant & Rice Golden Butterfly Prol. ii, Adam was not more destitute when the garden⁓gates were shut on him. |
c. transf. and fig. (and in figurative context).
| 1340 Ayenb. 189 To þe fole maydenes..god ham ssette þe gate of þe sposayles. 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1246/2 We shal not fayle..to haue a doore shet vpon vs where we haue none shette on vs now. 1750 Gray Elegy 68 And shut the gates of mercy on mankind. 1770 Burke Pres. Discont. 51 Resistance to power, has shut the door of the House of Commons to one man. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xliv, Before God shut the doorways of his head. 1861 Paley æschylus (ed. 2) Agam. 1302 note, Men are never satiated with prosperity, and never shut their doors against it. |
d. intr. for refl. Of a door, etc.: To close of its own accord, or by some unseen agency. Also, to admit of being shut, or of being shut in a specified manner.
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur xiii. iii. 615 Alle the dores & wyndowes of the palays shut by them self. 1648 Hexham ii, Een Schuyf-venster, A Drawing-windowe that opens and shutts. 1687 Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 199 The Door..shuts with a strong Bar behind it. 1825 Scott Talism. iv, The last chorister had no sooner crossed the threshold of the door, than it shut with a loud sound. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxvii. 40 [Addressing the door] Hung to the beam, you shut mutely or open again. |
4. trans. To close (something) by bringing together the outward covering parts. a. To close (one's eyes). Also fig., esp. in to shut one's eyes to, against, on; to ignore, refuse to recognize or consider.
| c 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 296 She..shette hir eien for disdeyn. 1421–5 Hoccleve Lerne to Die 872 They close & shitte the yen of hir mynde. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 292 The hawke will sniffe often and shet her eyes towards night. 1661 Boyle Style Script. (1675) 52 The plainest rustics, if they will not wilfully shut their eyes, may, by the benefit of its light, direct their steps. a 1711 Norris Pract. Disc. (1716) II. ii. 35, I cannot shut my Eyes against Manifest Truth. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. vii. §9 Wks. 1871 II. 303 Shut your eyes to assist your meditation. 1854 Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 415 That man is to be pitied who can shut his eyes to facts. 1907 J. H. Patterson Man-Eaters of Tsavo x. 115 He levelled his revolver at the dead leopard, and shutting his eyes tightly, fired four shots in rapid succession. |
b. (a) to shut (one's) mouth: chiefly in pregnant sense, to cease from speaking, to hold one's tongue. So in mod. slang, to shut (one's) head, face ( see face n. 2 a for examples of the latter). (b) to shut (another's) mouth: to render unable to speak, reply, find fault, disclose secrets, etc.; occas. to prevent (an animal) from devouring. (c) shut it (in imperative): close one's mouth, hold one's tongue.
| 1340 Ayenb. 179 Þe dyeuel þet him zet beuore þe ssame him uor to ssette þane mouþ. 1535 Coverdale Isa. lii. 15, & y⊇ kinges shal shut their mouthes before him. 1535 ― Dan. vi. 22 My God hath sent his angel, which hath shut the lyons mouthes. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas x. xi. (Rtldg.) 377 If, on his return, his father ventured to remonstrate..Gaspard shut his mouth at once, with..an impertinent answer. 1876 ‘Mark Twain’ Tom Sawyer xviii, Shut your heads and let Tom go on! |
| 1886–96 in Farmer & Henley Slang (1903) VI. 202/1 Oh, shut it! Close your mouth until I tell you when. 1908 G. Sanger Seventy Years Showman x. 33 ‘Shut it!’ said one of the showmen roughly; ‘save your breath for the next scene.’ 1945 G. Millar Maquis viii. 163 ‘Enough,’ cried Boulaya. ‘Shut it, Frisé... You know nothing.’ |
5. a. To close by folding up or bringing together of parts (e.g. a book, † a letter, a clasp-knife, one's hand); to bring († one's arms) together.
| ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1082 Aboute hir nekke of gentil entaile Was shet the riche chevesaile. c 1374 ― Troylus ii. 1226 She shette it [viz. a letter]. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. 58 A paunce of plate, whiche of þe silf behinde Was schet and clos. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. viii, My buke I schet. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xiv. 335 Whan Rypus sawe that Rychard was confessed, he..made hym mounte vpon the ladder, & dyd shit the cheyn wherat he shold hang. 1576 Gascoigne Steel Glas Epil., I shut my glasse, before you gasde your fill. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. vii. 37 b, A yeallow Cypresse wrought vpon goldfolie, which they shut and knit fast behind their coyfe. 1614 Gorges Lucan ii. 44 And then her armes she spreads and shuts. 1815 Scott Guy M. xlix, The disappointed Dominie shut his ponderous tome. 1863 G. Macdonald Dav. Elginbrod ii. iii, She..shut the piano. 1886 Walsingham & Payne-Gallwey Shooting I. 175 Loaders..should be made to learn..in shutting the gun always to raise the stock to the barrels. 1894 Baring-Gould Kitty Alone II. 162 He shut his knife. 1905 E. Glyn Viciss. Evangeline 233, I can't shut the clasp of my journal. |
| fig. 1722 Lond. Jrnl. 23 June 3/2 On Friday last were shut the Transfer Books of the South-Sea Company. a 1754 [see shutting vbl. n. 1]. |
b. intr. for refl. Also with sense † to become optically continuous, to leave no visible gap.
| 1582 Watson Passionate Cent. ix. (Arb.) 45 So shuts or sprouts my ioy as doth this flow're. 1668 Dryden Even. Love iv. (1671) 56 Stage direct., The Scene Shuts. 1670 Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1694) 72 The South-Land..shuts against the North-Land to a Man's sight. Ibid. 75 At Cape Quad the Lands shut one with the other, as if there were no farther passage. 1723 P. Blair Pharmaco-Bot. i. 45 It's Flower opens in the Forenoon, from eight till towards Noon, and then it shuts. 1878 Joaquin Miller Songs of Italy 126 Earth and the sky and the sky and the sea, Seem shutting together as a book that is read. |
† c. fig. (trans.) To close (one's life). Obs.
| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 253 The vicair general..His laste day..Hath schet as to the worldes ye. |
d. pass. and intr. Of the day: To close in. Of winter: To set in, become settled.
| 1814 Scott L. of Isles iii. xx, The shades come down—the day is shut. 1854 Lowell Indian-Summer Rev. xxii, Ere Winter wholly shuts. |
6. trans. To weld. (Cf. shoot v. 38, shut n. 4.)
| 1490–1555 [see shutting vbl. n. 1 b]. 1604 Churchw. Acc. St. Michael's Oxf. (MS.), For shuttinge the Irons of the pumpe. 1844 Mech. Mag. XL. 176 The best method of shutting cast-steel. 1886 in W. Somerset Word-bk. 1949 K. S. Woods Rural Crafts England ii. ii. 33 The tyres have to be tightened by cutting out a piece and rejoining or shutting them with a smaller circumference to grip the wheel. 1964 H. Hodges Artifacts v. 86 For nearly all purposes the most effective way of joining iron was by welding or shutting. |
7. To close (an aperture) by placing something upon it or by drawing something across it; to stop up (a road) with obstacles or barriers.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 92 To wynne vp þe wiket-ȝat þat þe wey schutte. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xciii. 423 (Add. MS.) The way to helle is shitte to hire. c 1450 Cov. Myst. (1841) 228 With this ston this grave we shytte. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xv. 130 Strong men..kept the postes and passages so shutte, that they kept away the corne and victuals from all Italie. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. viii. 229 They then invented the Soccabous.., the which they shut with doores. 1735 Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia Descr. xv. 143 They would..for ever shut the Passage into Abyssinia. 1852 Conybeare & Howson St. Paul (1859) II. 459 After that time..the sea was shut; and the winter had been a stormy one. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xvii. 31 Not a road was shut against him. 1911 Daily Graphic 2 Dec. 4/3 Every exit was barred, every passage shut with a human barricade. |
8. a. To prevent access to or egress from (a place, building, etc.) by closing the doors or apertures. Now rare (superseded by shut up: see 19 e) exc. in to shut a shop.
| 1340 Ayenb. 154 Þanne is þe castel ziker and ysset. 1382 Wyclif Acts v. 23 We founden the prisoun schit with al diligence. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 574 The Troians shytted her Cyte. 1526 Tindale Luke iv. 25 In the dayes off Helyas, when hevyn was shet thre yeres and syxe monethes. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. i. 56 Being holy day, the beggers shop is shut. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. v. viii, This latter [the Feuillant Club] she..has the satisfaction to see shut. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxiii, Rob the Grinder made his own bed, preparatory to shutting the shop. 1886 C. E. Pascoe Lond. To-day xxxviii. (ed. 3) 324 Bank-Holiday with the shops of London shut. |
b. intr. for refl.
| 1801 Med. Jrnl. V. 160 The Post-office is just going to shut. |
† c. fig. (trans.) to shut (a person's) heart: to render him incapable of showing feeling. Also intr. for refl. of the heart. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 1086 Ther-with þe sorwe so his herte shette That from his eighen fil þere not a tere. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 328 Sche mihte noght o word on hih Speke oute, for hire herte schette. |
d. to shut one's purse, etc. † from, against: to refuse help to.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 272 Ȝit ony man see his broþer haue nede & schitte his purs & mercy fro hym. 1576 Gascoigne Droome Doomes Day Wks. 1910 II. 380 Whose table is not shut from any poore or needy. 1780 Mirror No. 102 Men whose purses are shut against their friends. |
9. a. To enclose, secure, or confine (a person or thing) in or within a place, building, or receptacle; to put in a place and shut the door. Also refl. Also occas. const. with other preps., under, between, etc.; rarely without const. (Cf. shut in 15.)
| 13.. Seuyn Sag. (W.) 2455 Th'emperour him ladde..Into his chaumbre..And whanne thai were therinne i-schet. 13.. Guy Warw. (1891) 418 Gij in to his chaumber gan to gon, & schett him þer in anon. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 452 Al schet in a schaȝe. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 726 Whan Dane here seluen shette Vnder þe bark. 1388 Wyclif Luke iii. 20 Eroude tetrark..schitte Joon in prisoun. c 1450 Knt. de la Tour xxiv. 34 Thei..shette hym in a chambre. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 494 She had shytte hit in one of her coffres. 1483 ― Golden Leg., St. Barbara (Kelmscott) 1050 Hir fader took her by the heer and drewe hir doun fro the montayn and shytte her faste in pryson. 1556 Aurelio & Isab. (1608) A iij, There then being the lady by the ordinaunce of her father shutte. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer iv. (1577) T iv, He slept shut into a chest. 1575 Gascoigne Fruites of Warre cl. Wks. 1907 I. 171 Herewith we had..Nor meale, nor malt, nor meane..To get such geare if once we should be shut. 1697 Dryden Virg., Georg. iv. 240 The rest, in Cells apart, the liquid Nectar shut. 1729 G. Adams tr. Sophocles, Antig. iii. v. II. 52 note , He was shut into a den, and so starved to Death. 1865 Ruskin Sesame ii. §91 You shut yourselves within your park walls and garden gates. 1894 R. Bridges Shorter Poems v. xi. 19 We laughed and sang at nightfall, shut By the fireside glow. 1898 ‘Merriman’ Roden's Corner viii. 87 It was Von Holzen's habit to shut himself within his cottage for days together. |
b. transf. and fig. Of immaterial things.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. v. pr. v. (1868) 170 It is raþer þe simplicite of þe souereyn science þat nis nat enclosed nor yshet wiþinne no boundes. c 1384 ― H. Fame 524 O thought that wrote al that I mette And in the tresorye hyt shette Of my brayn! a 1542 Wyatt Poems ‘The knot which first’ 39 My deadly grief, and pains so strong Which in my heart be firmly shytt. |
† 10. a. To bar or exclude (a person) from some possession or enjoyment; to restrain from doing something. Obs.
| c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) i. xxxi. (1859) 35 To exclude hym and schytte hym fro this deute. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2567 Leste our Lord God hym from his grace schitte. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 30 If men for good exercise, and women for theyr credite, be shut from Theaters, whom shall we suffer to goe thither? 1653 Holcroft Procopius, Goth. Wars i. 25 The Romans made use of those mills, but for want of water were shut from their Baths. 1719 Young Busiris iv. i, We can no more than shut him from escape, Till further force arrive. |
b. To separate (one thing) from another; to cut off from view. Obs.
| 1697 Dryden Virg., Ecl. vi. 54 The tender Soil then stiffning by degrees, Shut from the bounded Earth, the bounding Seas. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. i. 36 Whose hovering sheets, along the welkin driven,..shut the eye from heaven. 1831 Society I. 14 A turn in the road shut them from his sight. |
11. a. † To set (a person) free from, relieve of (something troublesome). Obs. exc. in passive (dial. and colloq.) to be, get shut of, (dial.) shut on, to shut one's hands of: to be rid of, free from; also ellipt.
| ? a 1500 Chester Pl. (1847) II. 31 Though he have healed thee, Shute from us shall he not be. Ibid. 33 To shutte hym of his dangere. 1575–6 Durham Depos. (Surtees) 312 This examinate promised..that he wold marye the said Grace..so that he might be shutt of the promises he hadd maid to one Marian Raic. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden To Rdr. D 3, Doo what I can, I shall not be shut of him. 1621 Cade Serm. 45 He cannot be quiet till hee bee shut of it [his divell]. 1692 Scarronides ii. Pref. 2 After his Taylor and Valet have shut their hands of him. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Antiq. xiv. i. §3 His own life would be in danger, unless he..got shut of Aristobulus. 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie xii, Happy will it prove for the boy if he is well shut of them. 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton I. v. 68 As for a bad man, one's glad enough to get shut on him. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 223 Types which all cattleholders agree in desiring to ‘get shut of’. 1892 Stevenson & Osbourne Wrecker xxii, Your family pays money to be shut of you. 1914 D. H. Lawrence Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd iii. 84 Who dost think wor goin' ter stop when we knowed 'e on'y kep on so's to get shut on us. 1976 S. Barstow Right True End i. iv. 65 ‘I haven't got her.’ ‘You're well shut, from all I hear.’ |
b. dial. To get rid of, make away with (money).
| 1797 T. Wright Autobiog. (1864) 254 For fear I should shut it [the money]. 1824 [Carr] Craven Gloss., Shut, to spend. ‘It'll shut a seet o' brass.’ 1872 Hartley's Yorkshire Ditties Ser. ii. 11 An' aw shan't ha' to come home and tell My old lass, ha' aw've shut all mi brass. |
II. Combined with advs.
† 12. shut about. trans. To close on all sides. Obs. rare—1.
| 13.. Bonaventura's Medit. 989 Þey shette hyt [the sepulchre] a boute with a grete stone. |
13. shut down. a. intr. To be closed with a lid; to come close down like a lid. Of fog, night: To come down and blot out the view.
| 1807 Southey Espriella's Lett. I. 161 The whole shuts down a-top, and closes in front, like a cabinet. 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abroad xix. 182 We got to..Heidelberg before the night shut down. 1891 E. Roper By Track & Trail i. 12 The fog shut down on us once more. 1897 ‘O. Rhoscomyl’ White Rose Arno 140 The night shut down. 1900 Blackw. Mag. Mar. 385/2 The forest shuts down upon the edge of the running water. |
b. trans. To close by lowering, etc.
| 1794 M{supc}Phail Treat. Cucumber 91 The lights of the cucumber bed were kept close shut down day and night. 1836 O. W. Holmes Music-grinders 72 Then..shut the window down. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 499 The lights may be shut down. |
c. To close (a manufactory). absol. To stop working.
| 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 226 The hands..forced the superintendent to shut down. 1880 Paper & Printing Trades Jrnl. xxx. 6 Most of the paper⁓mills that were shut-down..are being started anew. 1912 Keith Human Body xv. 241 When men and women lead sedentary and quiet lives their lungs are partly shut down. |
d. Mech. To stop or switch off (a device or machine, esp. an engine); to cause to stop working or running. Also absol.
| 1895 G. W. Lummis-Paterson Management of Dynamos x. 148 When shutting down a machine, the load should first be gradually reduced..by easing down the engine. 1911 Marshall & Sankey Gas Engines vi. 175 [Filling the reservoir] is done when shutting down the engine so soon as the gas is turned off. 1948 H. Constant Gas Turbines xi. 137 The best that can be done is to shut down as many engines as possible and operate the remainder at a power output giving reasonable efficiency. 1969 I. Kemp Brit. G.I. in Vietnam viii. 163 We all ‘shut down’—switched off our engines and made fast the rotor blades to the tails of the helicopters. 1976 Physics Bull. Aug. 339/2 Two samples were taken from the low-sulphur plant: one at ambient temperatures 30 days after the boiler had been shut down. 1980 Daily Tel. 10 Mar. 3/2 A nagging ‘oil migration’ problem..could eventually have forced a pilot to shut down the engine. |
e. Physics. To stop (the chain reaction) in a nuclear reactor; to stop (a nuclear reactor) from producing useful power by making the fuel assembly subcritical.
| 1945 Hawley & Leifson Atomic Energy 157 Knowing just when to shut down the chain-reaction..would be quite a problem. 1951 Nucleonics Jan. 5/2 If the temperature of the uranium exceeds 60°C, the pile is automatically shut down. 1963 B. Fozard Instrumentation Nuclear Reactors xiii. 164 Unless a heavy-water reactor is shut down for such a long period that there is a significant fall in the activity of the high-energy gamma emitters, it has a built-in neutron source. 1976 Sci. Amer. Jan. 27/2 The level of radioactivity in a standard 1,000-megawatt reactor is very high: about 10 billion curies half an hour after the reactor is shut down. |
f. intr. Of a device, machine, or installation, esp. a nuclear reactor: to cease to operate.
| 1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Account Devel. Atomic Energy for Military Purposes 1940–45 viii. 81 The half-life of the U-239 is so short that its concentration becomes negligible soon after the pile shuts down. 1960 Engineering Index 1959 246/2 During power failures of up to 1·5 sec duration..synchronous motors usually shut down. 1976 Sci. Amer. July 36/1 After the reactor had shut down, the evidence of its activity was preserved virtually undisturbed through the succeeding ages of geological activity. 1978 Nature 19 Oct. 576/2 As the voltage dropped rapidly various sensors began to shut down, and within a few minutes the satellite ceased to respond to commands sent up from ground control stations. 1979 Daily Tel. 15 Aug. 32/3 The Sea Kings will operate throughout the night but the others do not have night capability and will have to shut down for the night. |
† 14. shut forth. trans. To push (a person) out, to extrude, expel. Obs.
| 1513 Douglas æneis xi. xvii. 43 The sonnys furthschet [L. exclusi], that pety was to seyn, Befor thair wepand wofull faderis eyn. 1564 A. Bacon tr. Jewel's Apol. ii. ii. (1859) 21 There is now no nation which may truly complain that they be shut forth [se exclusam esse]. |
15. shut in. a. trans. To prevent access to or confine (a person or thing) by shutting a door, etc. or closing a receptacle. Also refl.
| c 1425 Cursor M. 17670 (Laud MS.) Ye shytte me in oon a friday At Euyn-tide in-to þat stede. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 163 The fayr danes whom the kynge acrysius holdeth fast shytte in wyth oute any rayson. 1530 Palsgr. 704/1 You have shytte in the dogge. 1614 Gorges Lucan iii. 100, I needs must scorne this double flout, To shut me in, or shut me out. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 19 Aug. 1654, These men went in with axes and hammers, and shut themselves in. Ibid. 18 Jan. 1671, I found him shut in. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. III. 170 The present walls, with their eleven gates, shutting in the whole population, were built about 1557. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 518 A row of trusses of straw is laid side by side over the whole, to shut in the steam. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xxvi, I shut myself in. |
b. To enclose with a barrier, hem in.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xiv. (1495) 120 Mala (in Grewe) is the lewre and in the face lewres shyttyth in eyther side of the nose. 1816 Tuckey Narr. Exped. R. Zaire vi. (1818) 212 Both ends of the reach being shut in by land. 1830 Marryat King's Own xxvi, We had shut in the battery [i.e. taken up a position from which it was shut in by a promontory]. 1863 ‘C. Bede’ Tour in Tartan-land 152 The Loch is shut in by a long-withdrawing range of mountains. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xiii. 292 Wooded hills..shut in the view on every side. |
† c. To close (a shop, building, gate, etc.). Obs.
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 291 The bathes and the Stwes bothe Thei schetten in be every weie. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 34 The churche was shott in from monday unto thursday. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 143 The people shut in their shops, and came out in harnesse in great multitudes. 1611 Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl ii. i. D 1 b, The shop will be shut in presently. 1648 Gage West Ind. 71 The gates were shut in. |
d. Oil Industry. To cease drawing oil or gas from (a well).
| 1931 W. H. Emmons Geol. Petroleum (ed. 2) xvi. 527 In 1923, during a period of overproduction, certain groups of wells were shut in while others near by were pumped. 1962 T. C. Frick Petroleum Production Handbk. II. xxx. 8 Pressure readings obtained while the well is being cleaned before the well is shut in. 1971 West Indian World 5 Nov. 16/2 All 17 wells had encountered satisfactory oil sand sections and were at present ‘shut in’ and awaiting the installation of an eight-inch pipeline. |
e. intr. Of the day, evening, etc.: To close in, grow dusk. Also of the days: To shorten. Now rare.
| 1623 R. Jobson Golden Trade 15 From 3. vntil the euening shut in. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 399 The Ambassadors..got to the City ere day-light was shut in. 1680 Cotton Compl. Gamester (ed. 2) 4 The day being shut in. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) IV. 158 Observing the sun-shine begin to shut in, I yielded. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 171 As day by day began gradually to shut in. 1924 [implied in shutting vbl. n. 3]. |
† f. To meet together with no space between.
| c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 122 Flints..cut so exactly square and even to shutt in one to another that ye whole wall is made without cement. |
g. To be closed in (to the view).
| 1816 Tuckey Narr. Exped. R. Zaire iv. (1818) 152 Just where the river shuts in. 1849 Cupples Green Hand xiii. (1856) 124 The opposite shore..shut in so far upon the other,..that, steering from the south'ard, one would never know there was a river there at all. |
16. shut off. a. trans. To prevent the passage of; to cut off (steam, etc.) by the closing of a valve or tap. Also, to close (a dark lantern).
| 1824 R. Stuart Hist. Steam Engine 132 The motion of the piston was equalized by shutting off the steam sooner or later from the cylinder. 1904 H. B. M. Watson Hurricane Isl. xx. 285, I shut off the lantern. |
| fig. 1844 W. Barnes Poems Rur. Life Gloss., ‘To shut off work’, to leave off work. 1903 F. W. H. Myers Hum. Pers. 180 To shut off pain when we know it will be useless. |
b. To cut off, separate from.
| 1833 Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. 102 There are inlets of the sea, occasionally shut off from the parent ocean. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 154 Great crags.., shutting off this bay from the other portions of the coast. 1893 Bent in Geog. Jrnl. II. 142 A large lake..which was shut off along one side by a very fine dyke or wall. |
c. intr. To come to a halt; to cease talking or writing. U.S.
| 1896 ‘Mark Twain’ in Harper's Mag. Sept. 526/1 ‘Now who—’ He shut off sudden. 1902 J. London Let. 12 July (1966) 136 Someone is going down town, so I'll shut off and give them a chance to mail this. 1938 V. Woolf Let. 18 June (1980) VI. 241 He rang me up late on Wednesday... He said he had travelled post haste from Prague to see Leonard. I said, A misunderstanding. Then we shut off. |
17. shut out. a. trans. To exclude (persons, also commodities, light, air, etc.) from a place, situation, circumstances, etc.; to deny (a person) right of entry to a place, etc.
| 1382 Wyclif 1 Macc. x. 75 He shitte [1388 schittide] hym out fro the citee. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 98 Ther is no lock mai schette him oute. 1487 Cely Papers (Camden) 172 Of a v{supc} felles the wych the Holonders hayd schowt wt. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 25 All pleasure of the body he shette out of his hert by y⊇ vowe of chastite. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 397 Our former errour, and the basenesse of the Portuguese, shut us quite out of this country. 1672 Dryden 2nd Pt. Conq. Granada iv. i, Make haste and draw the Curtain while you may; You but shut out the twilight of my day. 1742 Blair Grave 684 Heav'ns Portals wide expand to let him in; Nor are his Friends shut out. 1819 Taunton Rep. Cases Comm. Pleas VII. 480 The Defendant is completely shut out from taking the ground of mutual credit by his own statement. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 654 An exile, shut out from public employment. 1856 N. Brit. Rev. XXVI. 157 When we close one eye, we shut out the quantity of light which entered that eye as reflected from a different part of the room. 1842 Lowell Forlorn xvi, For, whom the heart of Man shuts out, Straightway the heart of God takes in. 1895 P. Hemingway Out of Egypt i. i. 10 The stuffy ill-lighted rooms at the back of the houses, shut out from view of the authorities. |
b. Phr. to shut (some one) out of doors, † out of the gates.
| 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. cxlii. Wks. (1876) 261 One that by chaunce was that nyght shette out of the gates. 1530 Palsgr. 704/1 She hath shytte me out of dores. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xxi, And Ravenswood's dirty usage of me—shutting me out of doors to dine with the lackeys. |
c. To screen from view.
| 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. I. ix. 101 A large headland..shutting out all points farther north. 1899 Mrs. E. Cotes Path of Star xv. 160 Orchids hung from above, shutting out the garden. 1906 E. V. Lucas Wand. Lond. i. 11 Long white blinds that shut out the house opposite. |
d. Baseball. (See quot. 1896. Cf. shut out n. s.v. shut ppl. a. 2.) Also transf. in other games and fig. N. Amer.
| 1881 N.Y. Herald 17 July 10/3 The Domestics were shut out in every inning up to the eighth, when by bunching their hits they scored two earned runs on a single by Mahny. 1894 Spalding's Base Ball Guide 40 Nichols..shut out the St. Louis team without a game to their credit out of four games played. 1896 R. G. Knowles & Morton Baseball 88 [A pitcher] who performed the remarkable feat of shutting out (i.e., disposing of a team in their whole nine innings without a run being scored) Baltimore, Cleveland [etc.]. 1952 in Wentworth & Flexner Amer. Dict. Slang (1960) 475/2 The last time [the Princeton football players] were shut out Penn did it on Nov. 3, 1946. 1957 Northland News (Uranium City, Sask.) 7 Jan. 7/2 [Ice hockey] The Flyers shut-out the blue and gold for the second time by a 2–0 count. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 15 May 2/1 Reagan shut out Ford in Texas, winning all 96 delegates to the National Convention. |
18. shut to. a. trans. To close (a door); † to shoot (a bolt).
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 95 & ᵹif..he worpe his hond forð touward þe þurl cloð, swiftliche anonriht schutteð al þet þurl to. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1078 Ðis angels two droȝen loth in And shetten to ðe dure-pin. c 1440 Jacob's Well 243 Sche..schett to þe dore. 1526 Tindale Acts xxi. 30 Forthwith the dores were shut to. 1665 Pepys Diary 16 July, A little pretty daughter of my Lady Wright's most innocently come out afterward, and shut the door to. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped iii, The door was cautiously opened and shut to again behind me. 1891 C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 128 A half-breed Indian that was loafing about there to shut-to the door. |
b. intr. for refl.
| 1912 M. Hewlett in Engl. Rev. Apr. 9 The earth's door shuts-to again. |
19. shut up. a. trans. To place or store away in a closed box or other receptacle; to keep from view or use; to confine within bounds. lit. and fig. † Also to withhold (one's money, kindness, etc.) from a person.
| c 1400 Pety Job 364 in 26 Pol. Poems 132 Tyll he..wylne to be shut vp in hys cheste. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 17922 To shit vp gold in coffers. 1526 Tindale 1 John iii. 17 Whosoever..seyth his brother in necessitie, and shetteth vppe his compassion from him. 1530 Palsgr. 704/1 He hath shytte up his treasour in a wall. 1540 ― Acolastus i. i. D ij, He neuer perceyued my goodnesse to be shut vp towardes hym. 1544 Betham Precepts War i. xciv. E vij, Whose names are worthye to be spred immortall, in euery age, whose fame should not be shutte vp, or hydde in any posteritie. 1612 Chapman Rev. Bussy d'Ambois v. v. 138 Our sensive spirits..can take..the same forms they had When they were shut up in this body's shade. 1691 tr. Beddevole's Ess. Anat. 120 Each Lobe [of the Liver] is shut up [Fr. renfermé] in a very delicate Membrane. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ii. 467 Thoughts shut up, want air, And spoil. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. xii. III. 268 Cutting long slips of muslin..and shutting them up in boxes. 1863 Dana Man. Geol. 27 The waters are shut up within the great basin, the Caspian and Aral being the seas which receive those waters that are not lost in the plains. |
† b. To comprise, include; to condense in brief expressions. Obs.
| 1622 Peacham Compl. Gentl. vi. 49 Shutting vp whole and weightie Sentences in three words. a 1674 Traherne Chr. Ethics (1675) 472 There are three things which beget love, beauty, benefits, and praises: they are all three shut up in goodness. |
c. (a) To confine (a person or animal) in prison or in some kind of restraint; to keep in seclusion; to hem (a person) round in order to prevent his escape. Also (chiefly refl.) to shut the door on (a person within a place, room, etc.) to prevent access; pass. to be closeted with.
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xiii. 312, I shall bryng hym agen wyth me vnto you all, were he shitte vp in x prisons. 1530 Tindale Lev. xiii. 4 Then let the preast shitt him vpp seuen dayes. 1534 ― Acts xxvi. 10 Many of the sainctes I shut vp in preson. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 119 A houell will..serue thee in winter..to shut vp thy porklings thou mindest to fat. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. xv. 367 These Virgines thus shut vp into these monasteries. 1645 Symonds Diary (Camden) 173 These garrisons shutt up by the rebells. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 21 Oct. 1670, Din'd with the Treassurer, and after dinner we were shut up together. 1741 Middleton Cicero (1742) III. 222 He shut him up closely by sea, as well as land. 1798 S. Lee Canterb. T., Young Lady's T. II. 476 Those for whom the feast should have been preparing,..remained shut up at home. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iii. viii, Whom, however, Loménie..shuts up in the Bastille. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 613 The Jacobites..were forced to shut themselves up in their houses. 1859 Jephson Brittany i. 1, [I] shut myself up with my own thoughts. 1896 Mrs. Caffyn Quaker Grandmother 276 The dogs were always shut up on moonlight nights. |
| fig. 1526 Tindale Gal. iii. 23 Before that fayth cam, we were kept and shut vppe vnder the lawe. 1726 Swift Gulliver iii. ii. 189 The whole compass of their thoughts and mind being shut up within the two forementioned Sciences. 1875 Helps Soc. Press. i. 3 How we are all shut up in our own small selves. |
(b) In some games of skill: To surround (the pieces of an opponent) in such a manner that a move becomes impossible without capture. Also said of the player. In Dominoes, see quot. 1870.
| 1474 Caxton Chesse iv. ii. (1883) 168 For yf he be taken or ded or ellis Inclusid and shette vp [etc.]. 1870 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 340 Endeavouring to keep the command of the game [dominoes], so that you can block it at any moment, or, as it is technically termed, ‘shut it up’. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 371 Unskilful players of draughts are at last shut up by their skilled adversaries. |
(c) To compel by the exclusion of alternatives to some particular conclusion, course of action, etc.
| 1836 Rob Stene's Dream (Maitland Club) Introd. 12 We are thus shut up to the conclusion, that the Poem must have been composed between 27th January, 1590–1,..and 28th February, 1591–2. 1843 H. Rogers Ess. (1860) III. 44 He plies the Oxford Tractists with this argument very fairly, and shows..that they are shut up to one of two courses. |
d. To close (an entrance, aperture, etc.); to pull (a door, window, etc.) to; † to stop up, make impassable (a road). Also occas. to shut permanently (the eyes, mouth). Now rare.
| 1526 Tindale Matt. xxv. 10 The gate was shett vppe. 1560 Ovid's Narcissus A iv b, And deth shut vp those eyes. 1570 T. Wilson tr. Demosth. Orat. ii. 15 All the Ports and Hauens in the Countrie are shutte vp by reason of the warres. 1608 Wotton Life & Lett. (1907) I. 411 The ways being all shut up with frosts, and snows. 1631 T. Powell Tom of All Trades 32 If the Merchant sit still, the most of them may shut up their Shop windowes. 1785 Paley Mor. Philos. iii. i. xv. (1841) 89 When a tradesman shuts up his windows, to induce his creditors to believe that he is abroad. 1802 R. Brookes Gazetteer (ed. 12) s.v. Lepanto, The harbour is small, and may be shut up by a chain. 1826 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 100 Let them answer this question, or shut up their mouths upon this subject. 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. xix. (1842) 506 Closing the extremities of tubes so as to shut up one end. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xl, Well, his mouth's shut up at last. 1891 Kinns Graven in Rock viii. 290 The ancient Egyptians had closely shut it [the entrance] up. |
| fig. 1576 Gascoigne Droome Doomes Day Wks. 1910 II. 375 If the outward wandring be shut up, the inward accesse to God is opened. |
e. To close, prevent access to or exit from (a place, a house, shop, room, etc.); † to screen by an enclosure from (obs.); Agric. to close (a meadow) to pasture, in preparation for a hay crop; to close (a box or other receptacle); Naut. to stop the leaks in (a ship). to shut up shop: see shop n. 8 b.
Also in Biblical phrases, to shut up the heavens, to withhold rain; to shut up the womb, to render barren.
| 1530 Tindale Lev. xiv. 38 Then let the preast..shett vp the housse for .vii. dayes. 1530 ― Deut. xi. 17 And then the wrath of the Lorde..shott vp the heauen that there be no rayne. 1535 Coverdale Job iii. 10 Because it shut not vp the wombe that bare me. 1576 Gascoigne Droome Doomes Day Wks. 1910 II. 246 Gluttony dyd shut up Paradyse. 1592 Arden of Feversham ii. ii. 52 Tis very late, I were best shute vp my stall. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 16 July 1665, Two houses were shut up in our parish. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 110 ¶5 His mother..had shut up half the Rooms in the House. 1733 Arbuthnot Ess. Effects Air vi. 121 Cities in Greece, shut up from Northerly Winds, were unhealthy. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. 275 Their food, four small pastures... Two of them I fed in the spring, rather late before I shut them up for hay. 1805 Collingwood in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. 110 note, The Achille wanted caulking much. I ordered a gang on board of her to shut her up before the wet weather comes. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxvii, Noah, you shut up the shop. 1840 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. I. iv. 396 The field is now shut up till the time of harvesting the crop. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxvii, Let us shut up the box and the puppets. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede Epil., The workshops have been shut up half an hour or more. |
| fig. 1702 O. Heywood Diaries (1885) IV. 296 Alas then my heart was shut up. |
f. To close (something) by folding together, to fold (something) up. Also intr. for refl. Also, † to fit closely together.
| 1611 Bible Job xli. 15 His scales are his pride, shut vp together as with a close seale. 1819–23 P. Barlow in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) III. 473/1 A machine shutting up in the form of a chest, or box. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. iii. x, Shutting up the easel itself, [she] deposited it in the corner. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. iii, And he, shutting up the knife..accompanied them to the cottage. 1891 Punch 25 Apr. 201/2 Smart new boy in cloak-room has noted gentlemen shutting up their crush hats. 1911 Daily Graphic 2 Dec. 4/3 Shutting up the little book he had been reading. |
† g. To conclude, wind up (a subject, discourse, etc.); to finish up (an act, a period of time, etc.), to bring to an end with. Obs.
| 1575 Gascoigne Making of Verse Wks. 1907 I. 471 The two last [lines] do combine and shut up the Sentence. 1577–87 Harrison England ii. vi. 171/2 in Holinshed, Some making their entrie with egs, and shutting vp their tables with mulberies. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osorius 158 To shutte up the matter in fewe wordes. 1585 Kyd Sp. Trag. ii. iv. 17 And heauens haue shut vp day to pleasure vs. 1601 W. Leigh Soules Solace (1617) 18 Hee shut vp his blessed life, with these blessed words [etc.]. 1620 Venner Via Recta viii. 182, I must aduertise them that shut vp their meale with drinke, that they doe it with a moderate draught. 1633 Battle of Lutzen 28, I shut up all concerning this point in this Assertion. 1638 A. Read Chirurg. i. 1 In the last Lecture..I shut up the doctrine of ulcers. c 1650 in Bromley Collect. Roy. Lett. (1787) 309 Thus I will shut up my long and tedious letter. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 102 He constantly shuts up the Week with a Debauch. 1741 Wesley Wks. 1872 I. 303, I will shut up this melancholy subject with part of a letter. |
h. colloq. To be the end of (a matter).
| 1857 Dickens Dorrit i. xii, Now, I'll tell you what it is, and this shuts it up;..I'll let him off for another five down and a bottle of wine; and if you mean done, say done, and if you don't like it, leave it. |
i. intr. Of a period of time, state of things, a discourse, an action: To come to an end. arch.
| 1609 Old Meg of Herefordsh. (1816) 2 The sports growing to the end, and shutting up. 1667 Pepys Diary 31 Mar., The month shuts up only with great desires of peace in all of us. 1865 Swinburne Chastelard v. ii. 180 So here my time shuts up. |
j. Of a person: † To end one's course of action (obs.); to bring one's remarks to a close. Now rare. (Cf. m.)
| 1628 Bp. Hall Contempl. xx. Joash & Elisha 21 The Joash of Judah having been preserved..by Jehoiada the priest..shuts up in the unkinde murther of his sonne. 1657 J. Watts Scribe, Pharisee, etc. i. 72 And now (to shut up) I will give you a brief recapitulation. 1700 R. Cromwell Let. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1898) XIII. 121, I fear how farre my penn hath runn; it is but reasonable to shut up. 1868 Thirlwall Lett. (1881) II. 175, I must now shut up. |
k. Of a commercial house: To close its doors, stop payment. rare.
| 1841 Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. x, The very day when the Muff and Tippet Company shut up. |
l. trans. To cause (a person) to stop talking, to reduce to silence. Also to silence (hostile artillery).
| 1814 Jane Austen Mansf. Park III. xvi. 305 Her son, who was always guided by the last speaker, by the person who could get hold of and shut him up. 1857 Dickens Dorrit i. xiii, I say to them, What else are you made for? It shuts them up. They haven't a word to answer. 1860 W. H. Russell Diary in India I. 291 Our artillery seemed to shut the hostile guns up. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. v, When I got there I was quite shut up. 1866 Mysteries of Isis 7 The Captain shuts up poor Henry..and he can't say a word in return. 1887 Poor Nellie (1888) 16 Looks at you and shuts you up just like Snorker, my old form master. |
m. intr. (colloq. or slang.) To shut one's mouth, to stop talking. (Cf. j.) Often in imperative.
| 1840 Picayune (New Orleans) 10 Oct. 2/4 The Dutch⁓man got a hint to ‘shut up’ from one of the officers. 1853 ‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green i. viii, Order! or-der! shut up, Bouncer! 1858 Trollope Dr. Thorne v, On this occasion he seemed to be at some loss for words: he shut up, as the slang phrase goes. 1905 E. Glyn Viciss. Evangeline 134 He nearly had a fit, and shut up at once. |
n. Of a racehorse: To refuse to go on running in a race.
| 1859 Lever Dav. Dunn xxix, Some horses..drag their feet along, all weary and tired; if you push them a bit, they shut up, or they answer the whip with a kind of shrug. |
▪ IV. shut, ppl. a.
(ʃʌt)
[pa. pple. of shut v.]
1. a. In senses of the verb: Closed, fastened up, folded together, etc.
| 1474 Caxton Chesse ii. iv. (1883) 51 Wyth a closid and shette purse shalt thou neuer haue victorye. 1528 Paynell Salerne's Regim. 24 The open aier wolde be chosen and..the shutte aier be eschewed. 1615 R. Cocks Diary (Hakl. Soc.) I. 89 He would cary both our open and also our shut letters. 1748 Richardson Clarissa VI. 72 Speaking words of tenderness through his shut teeth. 1830 Carleton Traits (1843) I. 27 The dog..laying his shut paw upon Jack's nose. 1894 Kipling Jungle Bk. 57 His first stroke..was sent home with shut mouth in silence. |
| transf. 1817 Byron Manfred i. i, By thy shut soul's hypocrisy. 1907 Sir O. Lodge Subst. Faith x. 63 Their shut minds and self-satisfied hearts are things to marvel at. |
b. (See quot.)
| 1809 R. Langford Introd. Trade 52 When the word shut is placed after any particular stock, it denotes no transfer can be made, as the books of the Stock or company are adjusting. |
c. Paper-making. (See quot.)
| 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 376 In a well-made sheet of paper the fibres are ranged in a horizontal and parallel direction, and a manufacturer describing such a sheet of paper, would say that the stuff was well shut. |
† d. shut face: ? an air of mystery. Obs.
| 1626 B. Jonson Staple of N. iv. iv. 64 With all your..lookes out of the politicks, your shut-faces, And reseru'd Questions, and Answers that you game with. |
† e. shut sound, shut vowel = close a. 1 d. Also used to designate a short vowel of the quality used in closed syllables. Obs.
| 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. III. 222 Those who inhabit the valley of the Po..have derived..a strong tendency to nasal sounds and shut vowels. 1849 Craig Dict., Key to Pronunc., A. Shut sound, as in man... E. Shut sound, as in men... O. Shut sound, as in hot. |
f. shut couplet: (see quot.).
| 1896 G. Saintsbury Hist. 19th Cent. Lit. i. 7 What has been called the ‘shut’ couplet—the couplet more or less rigidly confined to itself, and not overlapping. |
2. Comb.: with advs. as shut-away adj.; with adjs., as shut-eyed, shut-minded (so shut-mindedness), shut-mouthed. See also shut-in a. and n., shut-out a. and n., shut-up a.
| 1911 Galsworthy Patrician ii. xvi. 253 Her face had a strange, brooding, *shut-away look, as though he had frightened her. 1913 ‘Saki’ When William Came (1914) xvi. 272 He looked round again at the rolling stretches of brown hills; before he had regarded them merely as the background to this little shut-away world. 1959 Listener 12 Mar. 473/1 The sensitive, shut-away man. |
| 1934 J. A. Lee Children of Poor (1949) iii. 68 Prayer was tiring in the extreme, in an atmosphere of tense, sweaty, *shut-eyed sanctity. 1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) xxx. 283, I watched Belle's shut-eyed face compose with fatigue. 1960 T. Hughes Lupercal 37 And look in at the byre's Blaze of darkness: a sudden shut-eyed look Backward into the head. 1977 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 20 Nov. 27/4, I don't want to get *shut-minded as I get older. 1981 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Jan. 60/4 At this stage in such a review it is a common topos to remark that thanks are due to the editor or author for raising weighty questions. It may seem churlish or shut-minded, but for {pstlg}45 one might also expect a few answers. |
| 1933 C. C. Martindale in M. Leahy Conversions to Catholic Church ix. 91 A priestly work of incredible *shut-mindedness, but..homage-worthiness. |
| 1936 C. Sandburg People, Yes 113 In Vermont a *shut-mouthed husband finally broke forth to his wife. 1959 W. R. Bird These are Maritimes viii. 217 That made him awful mad but he wouldn't say anything. He's what you'd call ‘shut⁓mouthed’. |
▪ V. shut
var. shutt.