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
Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2025
And her mother Joan, a widowed shut-in, is plotting a murder with Jesus.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
Just as shut-in was the driver of a big Chevrolet Suburban, except that its 28% near-view in 2023 had not shrunk quite as much from the mere 56% view available to drivers of the body shape launched in 2000, the earliest tested.
—Ian Baker
august 21, New Atlas, 21 Aug. 2025
The greatest risk factor for death during hot weather was social isolation: the elderly shut-in or the person with mental disorders on psychiatric medication.
—Cory Franklin, Chicago Tribune, 13 July 2025
Mostly, though, there are packages, a tsunami of packages mailed by retailers to a nation of new shut-ins, suddenly ordering everything online for delivery to their front door.
—Casey Cep, New Yorker, 28 June 2025
Like Wick, Nathan Caine (Quaid) is an unassuming, socially awkward shut-in who possesses a unique set of dormant skills, which get unleashed by unpredictable (and exceptionally violent) external forces.
—Gregory Nussen, Deadline, 8 Mar. 2025
The shut-in tropes of the stay-at-home parent no longer apply—these women are neither disconnected nor stagnant.
—Neha Ruch, TIME, 14 Jan. 2025
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
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Noun
While Miranda is busy building her empire, her husband Ray, a nurse with a hobby of taking random pills, has knocked up the eighteen-year-old granddaughter of one of his hospice patients; and her mother Joan, a widowed shut-in, is plotting a murder with Jesus.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2025
And her mother Joan, a widowed shut-in, is plotting a murder with Jesus.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
Just as shut-in was the driver of a big Chevrolet Suburban, except that its 28% near-view in 2023 had not shrunk quite as much from the mere 56% view available to drivers of the body shape launched in 2000, the earliest tested.
—Ian Baker
august 21, New Atlas, 21 Aug. 2025
The greatest risk factor for death during hot weather was social isolation: the elderly shut-in or the person with mental disorders on psychiatric medication.
—Cory Franklin, Chicago Tribune, 13 July 2025
Mostly, though, there are packages, a tsunami of packages mailed by retailers to a nation of new shut-ins, suddenly ordering everything online for delivery to their front door.
—Casey Cep, New Yorker, 28 June 2025
Like Wick, Nathan Caine (Quaid) is an unassuming, socially awkward shut-in who possesses a unique set of dormant skills, which get unleashed by unpredictable (and exceptionally violent) external forces.
—Gregory Nussen, Deadline, 8 Mar. 2025
The shut-in tropes of the stay-at-home parent no longer apply—these women are neither disconnected nor stagnant.
—Neha Ruch, TIME, 14 Jan. 2025
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
Cite this Entry
“Shut-in.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shut-in. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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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