Shut down means to close permanently or for a long time (about a company, factory or shop), or to switch off and stop working (about a computer, server or system). The noun “shutdown” means a closure or a stop in operation.
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company/factory/shop + shut down; shut down + factory/system/computer; shut it down; a shutdown (noun)
- The factory where my grandfather worked shut down in the nineties.
- Always save your work before you shut down the computer.
- The airport shut down for two days because of heavy snow.
What changed
First versionSorry, the post office shuts down for lunch between one and two.
RevisionSorry, the post office closes for lunch between one and two.
“Shut down” means to stop operating for good or for a long period, so the sentence about lunch sounds strange: as if the post office were stopping work altogether rather than taking a break. For a break or the end of the working day, use “close”: “closes for lunch”.
For a computer, you can say both “turn off” and “shut down”, but “shut down” stresses that the system closes everything properly. Lights, water or a TV are simply turned off: Don't forget to turn off the lights.
Your turn
The café lost money for two years and finally ___ in March.
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shut down — The café lost money for two years and closed for good, so “shut down” is right. “Broke down” is used about a car or a machine that stops working, and a café cannot break down like that.
Write about a place in your town that has shut down: a café, a shop or a cinema. Say when it happened and what is there now.
The small cinema near my school shut down about three years ago, and now there's a supermarket in the building.
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