1.To close so as to hinder ingress or egress; as, to shut a door or a gate; to shut one's eyes or mouth.
2.To forbid entrance into; to prohibit; to bar; as, to shut the ports of a country by a blockade. "Shall that be shut to man which to the beast Is open?"
3.To preclude; to exclude; to bar out. "Shut from every shore."
4.To fold together; to close over, as the fingers; to close by bringing the parts together; as, to shut the hand; to shut a book.
To shut in. (a)To inclose; to confine. "The Lord shut him in."
(b)To cover or intercept the view of; as, one point shuts in another.
To shut off. (b)To prevent the passage of, as steam through a pipe, or water through a flume, by closing a cock, valve, or gate.
To shut up. (a)To close; to make fast the entrances into; as, to shut up a house.
(b)To obstruct. "Dangerous rocks shut up the passage."
(c)To inclose; to confine; to imprison; to fasten in; as, to shut up a prisoner. "Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed."
(d)To end; to terminate; to conclude. "When the scene of life is shut up, the slave will be above his master if he has acted better."
(e)To unite, as two pieces of metal by welding.
(f)To cause to become silent by authority, argument, or force.