Adjacent Words

Duller definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DULLER, n. That which makes dull.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Duller Dull"er, n. One who, or that which, dulls.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dull Dull, a. [Compar. Duller; superl. Dullest.] [AS. dol foolish; akin to gedwelan to err, D. dol mad, dwalen to wander, err, G. toll mad, Goth. dwals foolish, stupid, cf. Gr. ? turbid, troubled, Skr. dhvr to cause to fall. Cf. Dolt, Dwale, Dwell, Fraud.] 1. Slow of understanding; wanting readiness of apprehension; stupid; doltish; blockish. ``Dull at classical learning.'' --Thackeray. She is not bred so dull but she can learn. --Shak. 2. Slow in action; sluggish; unready; awkward. This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. --Matt. xiii. 15. O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue. --Spenser. 3. Insensible; unfeeling. Think me not So dull a devil to forget the loss Of such a matchless wife. -- Beau. & Fl. 4. Not keen in edge or point; lacking sharpness; blunt. ``Thy scythe is dull.'' --Herbert. 5. Not bright or clear to the eye; wanting in liveliness of color or luster; not vivid; obscure; dim; as, a dull fire or lamp; a dull red or yellow; a dull mirror. 6. Heavy; gross; cloggy; insensible; spiritless; lifeless; inert. ``The dull earth.'' --Shak. As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain. -- Longfellow. 7. Furnishing little delight, spirit, or variety; uninteresting; tedious; cheerless; gloomy; melancholy; depressing; as, a dull story or sermon; a dull occupation or period; hence, cloudy; overcast; as, a dull day. Along life's dullest, dreariest walk. -- Keble. Syn: Lifeless; inanimate; dead; stupid; doltish; heavy; sluggish; sleepy; drowsy; gross; cheerless; tedious; irksome; dismal; dreary; clouded; tarnished; obtuse. See Lifeless.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dull Dull, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Duller; p. pr. & vb. n. Dulling.] 1. To deprive of sharpness of edge or point. ``This . . . dulled their swords.'' --Bacon. Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. --Shak. 2. To make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy, as the senses, the feelings, the perceptions, and the like. Those [drugs] she has Will stupefy and dull the sense a while. --Shak. Use and custom have so dulled our eyes. --Trench. 3. To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish. ``Dulls the mirror.'' --Bacon. 4. To deprive of liveliness or activity; to render heavy; to make inert; to depress; to weary; to sadden. Attention of mind . . . wasted or dulled through continuance. --Hooker.