Shut down or shutdown?
shut down is a verb meaning “To close, terminate, or end; to stop operating, either permanently or…”; shutdown is a noun meaning “The action of stopping operations; a closing, of a computer, business, event…”. Use shut down as a verb and shutdown as a noun. shut down is written as two words and shutdown as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between shut down and shutdown?
| shut down | shutdown | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb, noun | noun |
| Meaning | To close, terminate, or end; to stop operating, either permanently or temporarily To turn off or stop | The action of stopping operations; a closing, of a computer, business, event, etc A statement, insult, etc. that prevents the opponent from replying further |
| Example | The store was shut down at the end of the year | You need to enter your password at startup, but it's not required at shutdown |
| Forms | none | shutdowns |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | not recorded |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 4.2 times per million words |
Sources: shut down and shutdown in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of shut down and shutdown
shut down
- 1
To close, terminate, or end; to stop operating, either permanently or temporarily
The store was shut down at the end of the year
- 2
Alternative form of shutdown
- 3
To turn off or stop
It's a good idea to shut down the machine before you leave
- 4
To stop offering a service, such as a bar; to perform the necessary tasks to stop a service or close a function
The restaurant shuts down at two o'clock in the morning
- 5
datedTo become dark
Once the night shut down, I couldn't see my way home
- 6
To suppress, block out, or reject something
She made a proposal to reorganize the department, but management shut her down
- 7
To render (something) ineffective
We shut down the other team's strategy
- 8
To emotionally withdraw into oneself as a defense mechanism; to block out external stressors
I can't talk to him about the accident; he just shuts down anytime I try
shutdown
- 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
- 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
An autistic response to stress or sensory overload, in which the individual freezes up and becomes silent, motionless, and unresponsive
- 4
A defensive ploy that prevents the opposing players from attacking
- 5
UKslangA big success; a hyped atmosphere
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, shut down or shutdown?
shut down is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; shutdown 4.2 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search shut down vs shutdown?
“shut down vs shutdown” is searched about 320 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“shutdown vs shut down”, “shut down or shutdown”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.