put up the shutters

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

put up the shutters (third-person singular simple present puts up the shutters, present participle putting up the shutters, simple past and past participle put up the shutters)

1. (cricket) To bat defensively in the last innings of a match in order to force a draw when winning is not possible.
2. (of a business, figuratively) To close, either at the end of the day or permanently.

   Synonyms: close up shop, shut up shop

Further reading

• “put up the shutters” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “put up the shutters”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “put up the shutters”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.