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To obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar. [R.] Shak.

pitously he preyde. Chaucer. When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matt. vi. 6. I pray, or (by ellipsis) Pray, I beg; I request; I entreat you; -- used in asking a question, making…

To put a barrier before; hence, to shut out; to hinder; to stop; to impede. The valves preclude the blood from entering the veins. E. Darwin.

The act of precluding, or the state of being precluded; a shutting out.

Shutting out; precluding, or tending to preclude; hindering. -- Pre*clu"sive*ly, adv.

To imprison; to shut up in, or as in, a prison; to confine; to restrain from liberty. The prisoned eagle dies for rage. Sir W. Scott. His true respect will prison false desire. Shak.

The iron hook fixed to a casement to pull it shut, or to hold it party open at a fixed point.

A door, shutter, or the like, having four folds.

A channel or guide along which a shuttle is driven back and forth, as in a loom, sewing machine, etc. Race cloth, a cloth worn by horses in racing, having pockets to hold the weights prescribed. -- Race course. (a) The path, generally circular or elliptical, over which a race is run. (b) Same as Race way, below. -- R…

Shut up, sequestered; retired from the world or from public notice; solitary; living apart; as, a recluse monk or hermit; a recluse life In meditation deep, recluse From human converse. J. Philips.

relate; to point; as, the figure refers to a footnote. Of those places that refer to the shutting and opening the abyss, I take notice of that in Job. Bp. Burnet.

r regulating the admission of air to the fuel; also, an arrangement containing dampers or shutters, as in the floor or wall of a room or passage, or in a chimney, for admitting or excluding heated air, or for regulating ventilation.

To inclose, as with ribs, and protect; to shut in. It [lead] were too gross To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave. Shak. To rib land, to leave strips of undisturbed ground between the furrows in plowing.

roduce unpleasant fumes or violent effervescence. -- Safety valve, a valve which is held shut by a spring or weight and opens automatically to permit the escape of steam, or confined gas, water, etc., from a boiler, or other vessel, when the pressure becomes too great for safety; also, sometimes, a similar valve openi…

.), the lens of a camera obscura mounted in a wooden ball which fits a socket in a window shutter so as to be readily turned, like the eye, to different parts of the landscape.

To shut up in a sconce; to imprison; to insconce. [Obs.] Immure him, sconce him, barricade him in 't. Marston.

Hence, to shut close; to keep close; to make fast; to keep secure or secret. Seal up your lips, and give no words but "mum". Shak.

To shut up apart from others; to withdraw into, or place in, solitude; to separate from society or intercourse with others. Let Eastern tyrants from the light of heaven Seclude their bosom slaves. Thomson.

Hence, to shut or close, as the eyes; to blind. Come, seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day. Shak. Gold death, with a violent fate, his sable eyes did seel. Chapman.

To divide, as the warp threads, so as to form a shed, or passageway, for the shuttle.