1
: a person who is confined to home, a room, or bed because of illness or incapacity
2
: a narrow gorge-shaped part of an otherwise wide valley
3
: available oil or gas which is not being produced from an existing well
shut in; shutting in; shuts in
2
: to prevent production of (oil or gas) by closing down a well
Examples of shut-in in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Peter Debruge, Variety, 1 Sep. 2024
Advertisement Arlo, though, is absent and presumed dead, and Naoise’s mom (Simone Kirby) has become a shut-in.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 2 Aug. 2024
Vulture, 7 Mar. 2023
Melanie Lidman, TIME, 25 Sep. 2024
More than 730,000 barrels per day of oil in the Gulf of Mexico is currently shut in, according to a Thursday update from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
—Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 12 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for shut-in 
Noun
The filmmaker hatched the project before the COVID-19 pandemic, but somehow failed to consider that audiences have had their fill of claustrophobic shut-in stories.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 1 Sep. 2024
Advertisement Arlo, though, is absent and presumed dead, and Naoise’s mom (Simone Kirby) has become a shut-in.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 2 Aug. 2024
Adjective
When Darren Aronofsky’s film received a six-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, star Brendan Fraser shot to the top of the Best Actor rankings for his performance as a 600-pound shut-in.
—Vulture, 7 Mar. 2023
Verb
Many restaurants and other businesses are shut in the coastal city of Haifa, and there are fewer people on the streets.
—Melanie Lidman, TIME, 25 Sep. 2024
More than 730,000 barrels per day of oil in the Gulf of Mexico is currently shut in, according to a Thursday update from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
—Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 12 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for shut-in
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shut-in.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Shut-in.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shut-in. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
shut-in
1 of 2 noun
: a person who is confined to home, a room, or bed because of illness or incapacity
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