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adjective
Verb phrase1.
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.
EXPANDmade, 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.
COLLAPSENautical.
a.
(of a barge) without means of propulsion.
b.
(of any craft) without means of propulsion, steering, or signaling.
10.
dumb down, Informal. to make or become less intellectual, simpler, or less sophisticated: to dumb down a textbook; American movies have dumbed down.
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Dumbs
is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
Origin:
before 1000; Old English; cognate with Old Norse dumbr, Gothic dumbs, Old Saxon dumb, Old High German tump, German dumm
before 1000; Old English; cognate with Old Norse dumbr, Gothic dumbs, Old Saxon dumb, Old High German tump, German dumm
Related forms
dumb·ly, adverb
dumb·ness, noun
qua·si-dumb, adjective
qua·si-dumb·ly, adverb
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.
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. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To dumbs
Etymonline
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
EXPANDoccasionally in English from early 14c., but modern use (1823) comes from influence of Ger. dumm. Related: dumber; dumbest. Applied to silent contrivances, hence dumbwaiter. To dumb down is from 1933.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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