mutely

1. Refraining from producing speech or vocal sound.

2. 1. Often Offensive Unable to speak.

   2. Unable to vocalize, as certain animals.

   3. Not pronounced; silent, as the e in the word house.

   4. Pronounced with a temporary stoppage of breath, as the sounds (p) and (b); plosive; stopped.

3. Expressed without speech; unspoken: a mute appeal.

4. Law Refusing to plead when under arraignment.

5. Linguistics

   1. Not pronounced; silent, as the e in the word house.

   2. Pronounced with a temporary stoppage of breath, as the sounds (p) and (b); plosive; stopped.

1. Often Offensive One who is incapable of speech.

2. Law A defendant who refuses to plead when under arraignment.

3. Music Any of various devices used to muffle or soften the tone of an instrument.

4. Linguistics

   1. A silent letter.

   2. A plosive; a stop.

1. To soften or muffle the sound of.

2. To soften the tone, color, shade, or hue of.

Usage Note: In reference to people who are unable to speak, mute and deaf-mute are now often considered objectionable. The offense is due not only to the bluntness of these terms but also to the implication that a person who is incapable of oral speech is necessarily deprived of the use of language. In fact, many deaf people today communicate naturally and fully through the use of a sign language such as ASL, and no one who has witnessed such a conversation would ever think to call the participants mute. See Usage Note at deaf.