ɪŋ adjective
causing numbness or insensibility; stupefying: the numbing effects of grief; a story repeated with numbing regularity.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
adjective
1.
deprived of physical sensation or the ability to move: fingers numb with cold.
2.
manifesting or resembling numbness: a numb sensation.
3.
incapable of action or of feeling emotion; enervated; prostrate: numb with grief.
4.
lacking or deficient in emotion or feeling; indifferent: She was numb to their pleas for mercy.
verb (used with object)
5.
to make numb.
Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English nome literally, taken, seized, variant of nomen, numen, Old English numen, past participle of niman to take, nim1
1400–50; late Middle English nome literally, taken, seized, variant of nomen, numen, Old English numen, past participle of niman to take, nim1
Related forms
numb·ly, adverb
numb·ness, noun
half-numb, adjective
un·numbed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To numbing
00:10
Numbing
is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
numb (nʌm) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | deprived of feeling through cold, shock, etc |
| 2. | unable to move; paralysed |
| 3. | characteristic of or resembling numbness: a numb sensation |
| —vb | |
| 4. | to make numb; deaden, shock, or paralyse |
| [C15: nomen, literally: taken (with paralysis), from Old English niman to take; related to Old Norse nema, Old High German niman] | |
| 'numbly | |
| —adv | |
| 'numbness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
numb
mid-15c., nome, lit. "taken, seized," from pp. of nimen "to take, seize," from O.E. niman "to take" (see nimble). The extraneous -b (to conform to comb, limb, etc.) appeared 17c. The notion is of being "taken" with palsy, shock, and especially cold. The verb is from c.1600.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
numb (nŭm)
adj.
Being unable or only partially able to feel sensation or pain; deadened or anesthetized.
Being emotionally unresponsive; indifferent.
To make or become numb.
numb'ness n.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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