Open vs. Shut — What's the Difference?

Allowing access, passage, or a view through an empty space; not closed or blocked

To move (a door or lid, for example) so as to block passage through an opening.

Exposed to the air or to view; not covered

To fasten with a lock, catch, or latch

With the outer edges or sides drawn away from each other; unfolded or spread out

To block entrance to or exit from; close

(of a business, place of entertainment, etc.) admitting customers or visitors; available for business

To confine in a closed space

Freely available or accessible; unrestricted

To exclude from a closed space

Not concealing one's thoughts or feelings; frank and communicative

To fold up or bring together the parts of

(of a matter or decision) not finally settled; still admitting of debate

To cause to stop operating

(of a vowel) produced with a relatively wide opening of the mouth and the tongue kept low.

To move or become moved so as to block passage; close

(of a string) allowed to vibrate along its whole length.

To stop operating, especially automatically

(of an electric circuit) having a break in the conducting path.

The act or time of shutting.

Move (a door or window) so as to leave a space allowing access and vision

The line of connection between welded pieces of metal.

Unfold or be unfolded; spread out

(transitive) To close, to stop from being open.

Make or become formally ready for customers, visitors, or business

(intransitive) To close, to stop being open.

Formally establish or begin (a new business, movement, or enterprise)

To close a business temporarily, or (of a business) to be closed.

Make available or more widely known

(transitive) To confine in an enclosed area.

Break the conducting path of (an electric circuit)

(transitive) To catch or snag in the act of shutting something.

Outdoors or in the countryside

To preclude; to exclude; to bar out.

A championship or competition with no restrictions on who may compete

Closed; not open.

An accidental break in the conducting path for an electric current.

Synonym of close

Affording unobstructed entrance and exit; not shut or closed.

The act or time of shutting; close.

Affording unobstructed passage or view

A door or cover; a shutter.

Having no protecting or concealing cover

The line or place where two pieces of metal are welded together.

Completely obvious; blatant

A narrow alley or passage acting as a short cut through the buildings between two streets.

Carried on in full view of others; not hidden or private

To close so as to hinder ingress or egress; as, to shut a door or a gate; to shut one's eyes or mouth.

(Sports) Not defended or not closely defended by an opponent

To forbid entrance into; to prohibit; to bar; as, to shut the ports of a country by a blockade.

Not sealed or tied

To preclude; to exclude; to bar out.

Spread out; unfolded

To fold together; to close over, as the fingers; to close by bringing the parts together; as, to shut the hand; to shut a book.

Having interspersed gaps, spaces, or intervals

To close itself; to become closed; as, the door shuts; it shuts hard.

Accessible to all; unrestricted as to participants

Closed or fastened; as, a shut door.

Free from limitations, boundaries, or restrictions

Rid; clear; free; as, to get shut of a person.

Enterable by registered voters regardless of political affiliation

Formed by complete closure of the mouth passage, and with the nose passage remaining closed; stopped, as are the mute consonants, p, t, k, b, d, and hard g.

(Computers) Of or relating to a file that can be accessed.

The act or time of shutting; close; as, the shut of a door.

Lacking effective regulation

A door or cover; a shutter.

Not legally repressed

The line or place where two pieces of metal are united by welding.

Susceptible; vulnerable

Move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut;

Willing to consider or deal with something

Become closed;

Available; obtainable

Prevent from entering; shut out;

Available for use

Not open;

Ready to transact business

Used especially of mouth or eyes;

Not engaged or filled

Not yet decided; subject to further thought

Characterized by lack of secrecy or reserve; candid

Not closed.

Able to be accessed (physically).

Able to have something pass through or along it.

(of a body part) not covered, showing what is inside

Not physically drawn together, closed, folded or contracted; extended.

(not comparable) Actively conducting or prepared to conduct business.

(comparable) Receptive.

(not comparable) Public

(not comparable) With open access, of open science, or both.

(not comparable) Candid, ingenuous, not subtle in character.

Mild (of the weather); free from frost or snow.

Having a free variable.

Which is part of a predefined collection of subsets of $X$, that defines a topological space on $X$.

Whose first and last vertices are different.

In current use; mapped to part of memory.

To be in a position allowing fluid to flow.

To be in a position preventing electricity from flowing.

(business) Not fulfilled.

Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or withdrawn from consideration.

Of a note, played without pressing the string against the fingerboard.

(wind instruments) Of a note, played without closing any finger-hole, key or valve.

Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing waterways, blocking roads, etc.; hence, not frosty or inclement; mild; used of the weather or the climate.

Written or sent with the intention that it may made public or referred to at any trial, rather than by way of confidential private negotiation for a settlement.

(phonetics) Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; said of vowels.

(phonetics) Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure.

That ends in a vowel; not having a coda.

Made public, usable with a free licence and without proprietary components.

(medicine) Resulting from an incision, puncture or any other process by which the skin no longer protects an internal part of the body.

Source code of a computer program that is not within the text of a macro being generated.

(of a multi-word compound) Having component words separated by spaces, as opposed to being joined together or hyphenated; for example, time slot as opposed to timeslot or time-slot.

(transitive) To make something accessible or allow for passage by moving from a shut position.

(transitive) To make (an open space, etc.) by clearing away an obstacle or obstacles, in order to allow for passage, access, or visibility.

To move to a position allowing fluid to flow.

To move to a position preventing electricity from flowing.

To turn on; to switch on.

(transitive) To bring up, broach.

(transitive) To enter upon, begin.

(transitive) To spread; to expand into an open or loose position.

(transitive) To make accessible to customers or clients.

(transitive) To start (a campaign).

(intransitive) To become open.

(intransitive) To begin conducting business.

To begin a side's innings as one of the first two batsmen.

To bet before any other player has in a particular betting round in a game of poker.

To reveal one's hand.

To load into memory for viewing or editing.

To make (a bed) ready for a patient by folding back the bedcovers.

(obsolete) To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain.

(with the) Open or unobstructed space; an exposed location.

(with the) Public knowledge or scrutiny; full view.

(electronics) A defect in an electrical circuit preventing current from flowing.

A sports event in which anybody can compete.

The act of something being opened, such as an e-mail message.

Free of access; not shut up; not closed; affording unobstructed ingress or egress; not impeding or preventing passage; not locked up or covered over; - applied to passageways; as, an open door, window, road, etc.; also, to inclosed structures or objects; as, open houses, boxes, baskets, bottles, etc.; also, to means of communication or approach by water or land; as, an open harbor or roadstead.

Free to be used, enjoyed, visited, or the like; not private; public; unrestricted in use; as, an open library, museum, court, or other assembly; liable to the approach, trespass, or attack of any one; unprotected; exposed.

Free or cleared of obstruction to progress or to view; accessible; as, an open tract; the open sea.

Not drawn together, closed, or contracted; extended; expanded; as, an open hand; open arms; an open flower; an open prospect.

Without reserve or false pretense; sincere; characterized by sincerity; unfeigned; frank; also, generous; liberal; bounteous; - applied to personal appearance, or character, and to the expression of thought and feeling, etc.

Not concealed or secret; not hidden or disguised; exposed to view or to knowledge; revealed; apparent; as, open schemes or plans; open shame or guilt; open source code.

Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing water ways, blocking roads, etc.; hence, not frosty or inclement; mild; - used of the weather or the climate; as, an open season; an open winter.

Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or withdrawn from consideration; as, an open account; an open question; to keep an offer or opportunity open.

Free; disengaged; unappropriated; as, to keep a day open for any purpose; to be open for an engagement.

Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; - said of vowels; as, the än fär is open as compared with the ā in sāy.

Not closed or stopped with the finger; - said of the string of an instrument, as of a violin, when it is allowed to vibrate throughout its whole length.

Open or unobstructed space; clear land, without trees or obstructions; open ocean; open water.

To make or set open; to render free of access; to unclose; to unbar; to unlock; to remove any fastening or covering from; as, to open a door; to open a box; to open a room; to open a letter.

To spread; to expand; as, to open the hand.

To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain.

To make known; to discover; also, to render available or accessible for settlements, trade, etc.

To enter upon; to begin; as, to open a discussion; to open fire upon an enemy; to open trade, or correspondence; to open an investigation; to open a case in court, or a meeting.

To loosen or make less compact; as, to open matted cotton by separating the fibers.

To unclose; to form a hole, breach, or gap; to be unclosed; to be parted.

To expand; to spread out; to be disclosed; as, the harbor opened to our view.

To begin; to commence; as, the stock opened at par; the battery opened upon the enemy.

To bark on scent or view of the game.

A clear or unobstructed space or expanse of land or water;

Where the air is unconfined;

A tournament in which both professionals and amateurs may play

Information that has become public;

Cause to open or to become open;

Start to operate or function or cause to start operating or functioning;

Become open;

Begin or set in action, of meetings, speeches, recitals, etc.;

Spread out or open from a closed or folded state;

Make available;

Become available;

Have an opening or passage or outlet;

Make the opening move;

Afford access to;

Display the contents of a file or start an application as on a computer

Affording unobstructed entrance and exit; not shut or closed;

Affording free passage or access;

With no protection or shield;

Open to or in view of all;

Used of mouth or eyes;

Not having been filled;

Accessible to all;

Not defended or capable of being defended;

(of textures) full of small openings or gaps;

Having no protecting cover or enclosure;

Opened out;

Of a set; containing points whose neighborhood consists of other points of the same set, or being the complement of an open set; of an interval; containing neither of its end points

Not brought to a conclusion; subject to further thought;

Not sealed or having been unsealed;

Without undue constriction as from e.g. tenseness or inhibition;

Relatively empty of and unobstructed by fences or hedges or headlands or shoals;

Open and observable; not secret or hidden;

Used of string or hole or pipe of instruments

Not requiring union membership;

Possibly accepting or permitting;

Not secret;

Without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious;

Affording free passage or view;

Lax in enforcing laws;

Openly straightforward and direct without reserve or secretiveness;

Sincere and free of reserve in expression;

Receptive to new ideas;

Ready for business;