Is it "close the door" or "shut the door"? [closed]

Solution 1:

While there are other phrases that commonly employ one of these and not the other, close and shut have the same meaning and can be used interchangeably in almost all cases.

If one were to replace shut with close in the expression "Shut up!", it would no longer retain its meaning and would only serve to confuse, although someone may find the alteration amusing, lessening the rudeness of the saying.

Since the act of closing and shutting would require the same operation and the state of being closed is nearly always identical to it being shut, you can feel confident using them as near perfect synonyms.

In an effort to distinguish them, I will say that a thing that is closed brings to mind the idea that its contents are enclosed, or inside. It also refers to hours of operation or availability, such as in "that shop is closed", in a way that shut cannot express on its own. An older phrase that encompasses this concept is "that shop is shut up for the day" (closed up works here, too) or "that shops looks like it's shut down".

So really, the differences happen when you get into the other definitions these words have and their separate connotations. The word lover enjoys using English because most words have many definitions. A side effect of having multiple meanings is that when using a word for its clearly intended meaning, one can choose a word that has another meaning that also applies to the situation (and often, this is where a connotation can come from). So knowing how your words are used in other contexts gives you a better idea which synonym to choose for your context.

These are cases where the words retain the close/shut meaning, but where the meaning of the phrases they're in are not identical:

close, shut; close up (temporary closing, in drawing - to bring lines together/close space), shut up (for the night [it would not suffice to say shut up without naming some condition of the shutting]) (temporary closing and shelter & protection); close down, shut down (permanent closing, with shut down sounding more permanent); close the windows, shut the windows (same meaning, but shut sounds a bit harsher);

Hopefully, someone else can improve on this list starter.

Solution 2:

They mean the same thing in your example, and in other situations too. For example.

"Shut your eyes" is the same as "close your eyes." They are also synonymous when referring to windows, mouths and shops.

However, you wouldn't say "close off the electricity," even though you could say "shut off the electricity" (or motor or water supply).