Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - shut

(shuts, shutting) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. Note: The form 'shut' is used in the present tense and is the past tense and past participle. 1. If you shut something such as a door or if it shuts, it moves so that it fills a hole or a space. Just make sure you shut the gate after you... The screen door shut gently. = close ? open VERB: V n, V • Shut is also an adjective. They have warned residents to stay inside and keep their doors and windows shut... ADJ: v-link ADJ 2. If you shut your eyes, you lower your eyelids so that you cannot see anything. Lucy shut her eyes so she wouldn’t see it happen. = close ? open VERB: V n • Shut is also an adjective. His eyes were shut and he seemed to have fallen asleep. ADJ: v-link ADJ 3. If your mouth shuts or if you shut your mouth, you place your lips firmly together. Daniel’s mouth opened, and then shut again... He opened and shut his mouth, unspeaking. = close ? open VERB: V, V n • Shut is also an adjective. She was silent for a moment, lips tight shut, eyes distant. ADJ: v-link ADJ 4. When a store, bar, or other public building shuts or when someone shuts it, it is closed and you cannot use it until it is open again. There is a tendency to shut museums or shops at a moment’s notice... What time do the pubs shut? = close ? open VERB: V n, V • Shut is also an adjective. Make sure you have food to tide you over when the local shop may be shut. ADJ: v-link ADJ 5. If you say that someone shuts their eyes to something, you mean that they deliberately ignore something which they should deal with. We shut our eyes to the plainest facts, refusing to admit the truth... PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n c darkgreen]disapproval 6. If someone tells you to keep your mouth shut about something, they are telling you not to let anyone else know about it. PHRASE: V inflects 7. If you keep your mouth shut, you do not express your opinions about something, even though you would like to. If she had kept her mouth shut she would still have her job now. PHRASE: V inflects