prevent from entering; shut out; "The trees were shutting out all sunlight"; "This policy excludes people who have a criminal record from entering the country"
If you shut someone out of something, you prevent them from having anything to do with it. She is very reclusive, to the point of shutting me out of her life She had effectively shut him out by refusing to listen
To hold the opposition scoreless for an entire game or any specified period of time; e g , "The Bruins shut out the Rangers for the last 18 minutes of the second period "
If you shut out a thought or a feeling, you prevent yourself from thinking or feeling it. I shut out the memory which was too painful to dwell on The figures represent such overwhelming human misery that the mind wants to shut it out. = block out
If you shut something or someone out, you prevent them from getting into a place, for example by closing the doors. `I shut him out of the bedroom,' says Maureen I was set to shut out anyone else who came knocking