From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishshut somebody/something ↔ away phrasal verb1 KEEP somebody IN A PLACEto put someone or something in a place away from other people where they cannot be seen A lot of people are classed as mad and shut away unnecessarily.2 shut yourself awayALONE to deliberately avoid seeing people by staying at home or going to a quiet place, especially because you are very unhappy or want to study, write etc When news came of Robin’s death, she shut herself away and saw no one.shut yourself away in She shut herself away in her room to work on her novel. → shut→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
shut away• Adolph wouldn't want you shutting yourself away.• From there he moved on to Edinburgh, and finally shut himself away in his much embellished palace of Falkland to die.• She should never have shut herself away in that dreadful place.• And others were so deeply affected that they withdrew from the community, shutting themselves away in their homes.• You could shut yourself away in this garret all day and never come down.• Not a good idea to shut yourself away like this once you got a bit older, thought Meredith.shut yourself away• Adolph wouldn't want you shutting yourself away.• She shut herself away in her room to work on her novel.• From there he moved on to Edinburgh, and finally shut himself away in his much embellished palace of Falkland to die.• She should never have shut herself away in that dreadful place.• And others were so deeply affected that they withdrew from the community, shutting themselves away in their homes.• You could shut yourself away in this garret all day and never come down.• Not a good idea to shut yourself away like this once you got a bit older, thought Meredith. 