shut off

verb

To stop or turn off by closing something, such as a valve.

“After his wife died, he shut himself off from the world.”

Meanings

verbshut off (third-person singular simple present shuts off, present participle shutting off, simple past and past participle shut off)

present singular third person shuts off · participle present shutting off

  1. intransitivetransitiveTo stop or turn off by closing something, such as a valve.

    Richardson dropped into the six-foot between the two engines, ran for a few yards, grabbed Mitchell's engine, and swung himself up. Mitchell had got to his feet by this time, but he made no move. Richardson shut off steam, reversed her, and brought her to a stand.

    1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine, page 54
  2. intransitivetransitiveTo switch off.

    “You can forget about going to that party on Saturday if you don't shut off that video game right now!”

    2006, Alfie Kohn, Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 97
  3. intransitivetransitiveTo separate; to isolate.

    After his wife died, he shut himself off from the world.

    1 more example

    In the latter years of its existence, BR was rationalising its estate by pulling down station buildings which were too large for its modern operational needs, or by shutting off parts of them when demolition was not an option. Kilmarnock station falls into this latter category. It dominates the townscape, but its operational importance has seriously diminished since electrification of the West Coast Main Line.

    2021 December 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The Bam Nuttall Partnership Award: Kilmarnock”, in RAIL, number 946, page 58

Synonyms & antonyms

verbstem the flow of

Similar

verbisolate or separate

Similar

verbblock off the passage through

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry
APA

shut off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shut%20off

MLA

“shut off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shut%20off. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shut off,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shut%20off.

Source: shut off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.