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dumb

 - 5 dictionary results

dumb

  [duhm] adjective, -er, -est, verb
Use dumb in a Sentence
–adjective
1. lacking intelligence or good judgment; stupid; dull-witted.
2. lacking the power of speech (often offensive when applied to humans): a dumb animal.
3. temporarily unable to speak: dumb with astonishment.
4. refraining from any or much speech; silent.
5. made, done, etc., without speech.
6. lacking some usual property, characteristic, etc.
7. performed in pantomime; mimed.
8. Computers. pertaining to the inability to do processing locally: A dumb terminal can input, output, and display data, but cannot process it. Compare intelligent (def. 4).
9. Nautical.
a. (of a barge) without means of propulsion.
b. (of any craft) without means of propulsion, steering, or signaling.
—Verb phrase
10. dumb down, Informal. to make or become less intellectual, simpler, or less sophisticated: to dumb down a textbook; American movies have dumbed down.
Origin:
bef. 1000; OE; c. ON dumbr, Goth dumbs, OS dumb, OHG tump, G dumm

Related forms:
dumbly, adverb
dumbness, noun

Synonyms:
2, 3. Dumb, mute, speechless, voiceless describe a condition in which speech is absent. Dumb was formerly used to refer to persons unable to speak; it is now used almost entirely of the inability of animals to speak: dumb beasts of the field. The term mute is applied to persons who, usually because of congenital deafness, have never learned to talk: With training most mutes learn to speak well enough to be understood. Either of the foregoing terms or speechless may describe a temporary inability to speak, caused by emotion, etc.: dumb with amazement; mute with terror; left speechless by surprise. Voiceless means literally having no voice, either from natural causes or from injury: Turtles are voiceless. A laryngectomy leaves a person voiceless until he or she has learned esophageal speech.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To dumb
dumb   (dŭm)   
adj.   dumb·er, dumb·est

    1. Lacking the power of speech. Used of animals and inanimate objects.

    2. Often Offensive Incapable of using speech; mute. Used of humans. See Usage Note at mute.

  2. Temporarily speechless, as with shock or fear: I was dumb with disbelief.

  3. Unwilling to speak; taciturn.

  4. Not expressed or articulated in sounds or words: dumb resentment.

  5. Nautical Not self-propelling.

  6. Conspicuously unintelligent; stupid: dumb officials; a dumb decision.

  7. Unintentional; haphazard: dumb luck.

tr.v.   dumbed, dumb·ing, dumbs
To make silent or dumb.
Phrasal Verb(s):
dumb down/up Slang To rewrite for a less educated or less sophisticated audience.

[Middle English, from Old English.]
dumb'ly adv., dumb'ness n.
Our Living Language  : In ordinary spoken English, a sentence such as He is dumb will be interpreted to mean "He is stupid" rather than "He lacks the power of speech." "Lacking the power of speech" is, however, the original sense of the word, but it has been eclipsed by the meaning "stupid." For this change in meaning, it appears that the Germans are responsible. German has a similar and related word dumm that means "stupid," and over time, as a result of the waves of German immigrants to the United States, it has come to influence the meaning of English dumb. This is one of dozens of marks left by German on American English. Some words, like kindergarten, dachshund, and schnapps still have a German feel or are associated to some extent with Germany, but others, like bum, cookbook, fresh (in the meaning "impertinent"), rifle, and noodle have become so thoroughly Americanized their German origins may surprise some.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

dumb 
O.E. dumb "silent, unable to speak," from PIE *dheubh- "confusion, stupefaction, dizziness." O.E., Goth. (thumb) and O.N. (dumbr) forms meant only "mute, speechless;" in O.H.G. (thumb) it meant both this and "stupid," and in Mod.Ger. this latter became the only sense. Meaning "foolish, ignorant" was occasionally in Eng. from c.1323, but modern use (1823) comes from infl. of Ger. dumm. Applied to silent contrivances, hence dumbwaiter (1749). To dumb down is from 1933.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: dumb
Pronunciation: 'd&m
Function: adjective
1 : lacking the power of speech dumb from birth>
2 : naturally incapable of speech <dumb animals> —dumb·ly /'d&m-lE/ adverb —dumb·ness noun
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Bible Dictionary

Dumb

from natural infirmity (Ex. 4:11); not knowing what to say (Prov. 31:8); unwillingness to speak (Ps. 39:9; Lev. 10:3). Christ repeatedly restored the dumb (Matt. 9:32, 33; Luke 11:14; Matt. 12:22) to the use of speech.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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