shutdown

See also: shut down and shut-down

English

Alternative forms

• shut-down

Etymology

Deverbal from shut down.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

shutdown (countable and uncountable, plural shutdowns)

1. The action of stopping operations; a closing, of a computer, business, event, etc.

   You need to enter your password at startup, but it's not required at shutdown.

   There is a plastic molly-guard covering the escalator's shutdown button to prevent little kids from pushing it and stopping the escalator.

   • 2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 30:

     In 1963, there was even more of a shutdown [at Christmas]. The Western and London Midland Regions ran no trains, with the rest of the network having the "barest of skeleton services". The Daily Herald called Beeching's cuts "the most scrooge-like... in railway history".

2. A statement, insult, etc. that prevents the opponent from replying further.

   When he insulted me, my reply was such a shutdown that he left the room.

3. (psychology, autism) An autistic response to stress or sensory overload, in which the individual freezes up and becomes silent, motionless, and unresponsive.
   • 2018, Laura James, Odd Girl Out: My Extraordinary Autistic Life, unnumbered page:

     I retreated into myself and allowed myself to be swallowed into a typically autistic shutdown.

   • 2020, Siena Castellon, The Spectrum Girl's Survival Guide: How to Grow Up Awesome and Autistic‎^[1], page 34:

     I may even reach the point where I have an autistic shutdown, which means I'll be unable to communicate, interact or socialize.

   • 2021, Carly Jones, Safeguarding Autistic Girls: Strategies for Professionals‎^[2], pages 61–62:

     Their [autistic girls'] distress could come out in all sorts of ways and result in meltdown or shutdown.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:shutdown.
4. (sports) A defensive ploy that prevents the opposing players from attacking.
5. (UK, slang) A big success; a hyped atmosphere.
   • 2015, “Shutdown”, performed by Skepta:

     Fashion week and it's shutdown / Went to the show, sitting in the front row / In a black tracksuit and it's shutdown

Synonyms

• (act of stopping operations): shuttering

Antonyms

• startup

Coordinate terms

• shutoff (noun)

Derived terms

• government shutdown

Related terms

• shutoff
• shutout

Descendants

• → Japanese: シャットダウン (shattodaun)
• → Korean: 셧다운 (syeotdaun)
• → Russian: шатда́ун (šatdáun)

Translations

action of closing

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 關機 / 关机 (gwaan¹ gei¹)

  Mandarin: 關機 / 关机 (zh) (guānjī), 關閉 / 关闭 (zh) (guānbì)

• Finnish: sulkeminen (fi), pysäytys (fi) (of a machine), sammutus (fi) (of a machine or computer)
• French: arrêt (fr) m (du système)
• Galician: apagado
• German: Herunterfahren n
• Greek: διακοπή (el) f (diakopí), τερματισμός (el) m (termatismós)
• Italian: chiusura (it), spegnimento (it), restrizione (it)
• Japanese: シャットダウン (ja) (shattodaun)
• Korean: 셧다운 (syeotdaun)
• Māori: whakawetonga
• Russian: выключе́ние (ru) n (vyključénije) (computing), шатда́ун (ru) m (šatdáun), отключе́ние (ru) n (otključénije), шатда́ун (ru) m (šatdáun)
• Spanish: apagado (es)

reciprocation that renders the other person wordless

• German: Schweigen erzeugende Erwiderung
• Italian: mutismo (it)

measure during a pandemic

• German: shutdown
• Serbo-Croatian: zatvaranje

See also

• closedown

Further reading

• “shutdown”, in Collins English Dictionary, 2011–present.
• “shutdown”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “shutdown”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “shutdown”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “shutdown n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present.