From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishshut off phrasal verb1 SWITCH ON OR OFFif a machine, tool etc shuts off or if you shut it off, it stops operating SYN turn off The iron shuts off automatically if it gets too hot.shut something ↔ off I let the engine run for a minute and then shut it off. Don’t forget to shut off the water supply.2 PREVENT shut something ↔ off to prevent goods or supplies from being available or being delivered a strike that closed the mines and shut off coal supplies3 shut yourself offALONE to avoid meeting and talking to other peopleshut yourself off from He was cold and remote, shutting himself off from her completely.4 be shut off from somebody/somethingSEPARATE to be separated from other people or things, especially so that you are not influenced by them The valley is shut off from the modern world. → shut→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
shut yourself off• He shuts himself off from his two young daughters and composes laments to his dead wife.• Students who avoid learning even the basics can shut themselves off from important sources in the field.• I shut myself off from the female race and channelled all my energy into my work.be shut off from somebody/something• Virginia and Peter Stillman were shut off from him now.• These people are completely shut off from the rest of society. 