1
: one that shuts
2
: a usually movable cover or screen for a window or door
3
: a mechanical device that limits the passage of light
especially
: a camera component that allows light to enter by opening and closing an aperture
4
: the movable louvers in a pipe organ by which the swell box is opened
shuttered; shuttering; shutters
1
: to close by or as if by shutters
corporations shuttering their production plants
2
: to furnish with shutters
Examples of shutter in a Sentence
Verb
They locked the doors and shuttered the windows.
They declared bankruptcy and shuttered the store.
Recent Examples on the Web
Paola Singer, Architectural Digest, 13 Nov. 2025
As for why the stars weren’t visible, that's because of the shutter speed used by the cameras to compensate for the amount of light being reflected from the sun.
—Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 13 Nov. 2025
Alexis Kayser, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Nov. 2025
The standoff had threatened to shutter auto plants around the world as Nexperia is a critical supplier of computer chips to the global auto industry.
—Ana Nicolaci Da Costa, CNN Money, 19 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shutter
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Noun
The mother-and-daughter duo revamped almost every corner of the 7,000-square-foot home, including its exterior, which now gleams with white siding and cobalt-blue shutters.
—Paola Singer, Architectural Digest, 13 Nov. 2025
As for why the stars weren’t visible, that's because of the shutter speed used by the cameras to compensate for the amount of light being reflected from the sun.
—Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 13 Nov. 2025
Verb
UMass Memorial Health Care (UMMH) could have saved a maternity center that shuttered in September 2023, according to Massachusetts State Auditor Diana DiZoglio.
—Alexis Kayser, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Nov. 2025
The standoff had threatened to shutter auto plants around the world as Nexperia is a critical supplier of computer chips to the global auto industry.
—Ana Nicolaci Da Costa, CNN Money, 19 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shutter
Cite this Entry
“Shutter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shutter. Accessed 27 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
shutter
1 of 2 noun
shut·ter
ˈshət-ər 
1
: a movable cover for a window that swings on hinges like a door
2
: a device in a camera that opens to allow light to enter when a picture is taken
shutter
2 of 2 verb
: to close with or by shutters
kept the house shuttered
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