shut down — close a business or system
phrasal verbB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
To stop operating a business, machine, or system, either temporarily or permanently.
Say it like a native
Textbook The factory ceased its operations permanently.
Native They shut the factory down for good.
'Shut down' is the everyday verb for closing a business or system; 'ceased its operations' is corporate/legal.
Pattern: shut down [something] / shut [something] down
In use
- The company had to shut down its factory due to financial problems.work
- If my favorite local shop shut down, I would miss it a lot because I go there almost every day.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ The power cut shut down it.
✓ The power cut shut it down.
With a pronoun, the object goes in the middle: 'shut it down', never 'shut down it'.
Common collocations
shut down + thing— the factory, the system, the server, the business
Don't confuse it
'Shut down' is stronger than 'close'—it often means stopping something completely, not just for a short time.
Related
- shut down (stop talking or reacting emotionally) — Another meaning of 'shut down' is 'stop talking or reacting emotionally'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.