Shut Meaning
/ʃʌt/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo close, in various senses.
verbTo close, in various senses., To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
Sentence Examples
The burglar shut the child in the closet.
I feel cold. Would you shut the window, please?
She went into her room and shut the door behind her.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Please remember to ____ the door tightly because it is very cold outside.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please make sure to ____ the windows firmly before you leave the house to keep the cold air out.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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, […]"
— 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 39:
"shut from every shore"
— 1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
"Whenever a syllable is formed with a long, that is an open vowel, they account the syllable long; and whenever formed with a short, that is a shut vowel, they reckon it short."
— 1810, Benjamin Humphrey Smart, A practical grammar of English pronunciation, page 344:
"When he asked her, she said, she thanked God he was dead, (the woman was glad to get shut of him) and said he died of an ague and fever."
— 1813, Thomas Bayly Howell, Cobbett's Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors, page 507:
"Just then returnd at ſhut of Evening Flours."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Please remember to ____ the door tightly because it is very cold outside.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please make sure to ____ the windows firmly before you leave the house to keep the cold air out.