deaf·en·ing

[def-uh-ning]

Origin:
1590–1600; deafen + -ing1

half-deaf·en·ing, adjective
non·deaf·en·ing, adjective
non·deaf·en·ing·ly, adverb
qua·si-deaf·en·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged

deaf·en

[def-uhn]
verb (used with object)
1.
to make deaf: The accident deafened him for life.
2.
to stun or overwhelm with noise: The pounding of the machines deafened us.
3.
deaden ( def 3 ).
4.
Obsolete. to render (a sound) inaudible, especially by a louder sound.

Origin:
1590–1600; deaf + -en1

deaf·en·ing·ly, adverb
half-deaf·ened, adjective
non·deaf·ened, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To deafening
00:10
Deafening is always a great word to know.
So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
Collins
World English Dictionary
deafen (ˈdɛfən) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
(tr) to make deaf, esp momentarily, as by a loud noise

deafening (ˈdɛfənɪŋ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
excessively loud: deafening music
 
'deafeningly
 
adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

deafen
1590s, "to make deaf," from deaf. The earlier verb was simply deaf (mid-15c.). For "to become deaf, to grow deaf," O.E. had adeafian (intrans.), which survived into M.E. as deave but then took on a transitive sense from mid-14c. and sank from use except in dialects (where it
mostly has transitive and figurative senses), leaving English without an intransitive verb here.

deafening
"very loud," 1590s, from deafen (q.v.). Deafening silence is attested by 1830.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

deafen deaf·en (děf'ən)
v. deaf·ened, deaf·en·ing, deaf·ens
To make deaf, especially momentarily by a loud noise.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
The sows do this despite the deafening cries of their doomed piglets.
There is a kind of deafening agony, blinding agony to this new poem.
The outcry when this was revealed was deafening, and the programme was dropped.
Their deafening noise is often accompanied by strong local wind, thick dust
  clouds, and violent ground shaking.
Related Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT