to shut up
50
5.5
- phrasal verb
- /ʃʌt ʌp/
:
encerrar
- There is an animal fierceness in her eye that shuts him up instantly.
Examples
-
The dog was shut up in the kennel while the family was out for the day.
-
During the storm warnings, all the animals were shut up in the barn for safety.
-
We have come to say that they can never shut us up!
-
In Syria, for the time being, the youth in the big cities prefer to remain shut up in their homes.
Academic text (2013) -
The only way those guys are going to shut up is if they can't talk anymore.
Fiction book (2001) -
They want to shut us up because they know they're not right.
-
During the campaign, Trump wouldn't shut up about how America's jobs were being stolen by China.
-
Shut up and listen.
-
They decided to shut up the old factory after years of declining production.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To fasten something with a key so other people cannot open it
300
4.0
Put someone or something in a place where they cannot leave, for example a jail
115
5.8
To lock someone in prison or a secure place
70
3.9
To keep something inside so it cannot escape by closing or locking
32
3.4
Put someone or something somewhere they cannot leave and others cannot reach
3
5.5
Keep people and things in a place where they cannot leave or be seen
Surround something completely so it cannot get out or move
To shut someone in a small room and not let them leave
Antonyms
How Confined
- Formal
178
4.2
50
5.5
300
4.0
215
4.2
388
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
shut + up
The verb 'shut' (to close) plus the particle 'up' suggests a notion of closing completely, so a learner could infer a meaning related to stopping sound (e.g., 'close your mouth'). However, the expression functions as a phrasal verb/imperative with pragmatic force (often rude) that is not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so a B1 learner might guess the general idea but not reliably infer formality/pragmatics and exact usage.
Etymology
Shut up The verb shut up comes from the action of closing doors or gates to keep people or animals inside. To shut something up meant to fasten it completely closed, so the phrase came to mean 'to lock in' or 'confine'.