shut out
Keep entirely out
To shut out is to exclude or prevent from entering.
A goalkeeper who shuts out the opposing team allows no goals—a shutout.
You can shut out distractions, shut out unwanted thoughts, or feel shut out of a conversation.
The noise-canceling headphones shut out everything around me.
They shut us out of the decision-making process.
Made empty or void
- scorelessWithout any points
- whitewashConceal or coat pale
- goose eggSlang for zero
- zeroNumerical absence of quantity
clean sheet · no-hitter · pitching · defense · goalkeeping · dominated · sweep · blowout
Exclude from a group
- banishOfficially send away
- barDrinking establishment
- expelRemove forcibly from membership
- blackballExclude by negative vote
debar · disqualify · block · prohibit · sideline · marginalize · eliminate · omit
Solid mass, or impede
- barDrinking establishment
- obstructBlock or hinder passage
- stopCease all motion
- thwartPrevent success of
impede · forestall · avert · preclude · ward off · fend off · stave off · keep at bay
Denial of acceptance
- alienationState of being isolated
- estrangementEmotional separation between people
- abandonmentAct of leaving permanently
- lonelinessState of lacking companions
isolation · coldness · distance · detachment · withdrawal · hurt · neglect · indifference
blanked
Made empty or void
zero · clean sheet · no-hitter · pitching · defense · goalkeeping · dominated · sweep · blowout
ostracize
Exclude from a group
blackball · debar · disqualify · block · prohibit · sideline · marginalize · eliminate · omit · bypass
block
Solid mass, or impede
thwart · impede · forestall · avert · preclude · ward off · fend off · stave off · keep at bay · hold off
rejection
Denial of acceptance
- alienationState of being isolated
- estrangementEmotional separation between people
- abandonmentAct of leaving permanently
loneliness · isolation · coldness · distance · detachment · withdrawal · hurt · neglect · indifference · exclusion
protection
Guarding against harm
- shieldHandheld defensive armor
- insulateProtect from temperature transfer
- bufferProtective intermediate space
screen · filter · muffle · dampen · soundproof · seal · barrier · cocoon · refuge · sanctuary
- outoutdoors, outward, exterior, exit, away
- locked outblocked, barred, excluded, denied, banned
- rejection wordsrejected, rebuffed, spurned, snubbed, refused
- exclusionsexclude, exclusion, excluding, except, exception
- dismissalsgo away, leave, scram, beat it, buzz off
- demolishedbeaten, defeated, crushed, destroyed, demolished