Adjacent Words

Numb definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NUMB, a.
1. Torpid; destitute of the power of sensation and motion; as, the fingers or limbs are numb with cold.
2. Producing numbness; benumbing; as the numb cold night. [Not used nor proper.]
NUMB, v.t. To make torpid; to deprive of the power of sensation or motion; to deaden; to benumb; to stupefy.
For lazy winter numbs the laboring hand.
And numbing coldness has embraced the ear.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: lacking sensation; "my foot is asleep"; "numb with cold" [syn: asleep, benumbed, numb]
2: (followed by `to') not showing human feeling or sensitivity; unresponsive; "passersby were dead to our plea for help"; "numb to the cries for mercy" [syn: dead, numb]
3: so frightened as to be unable to move; stunned or paralyzed with terror; petrified; "too numb with fear to move" v
1: make numb or insensitive; "The shock numbed her senses" [syn: numb, benumb, blunt, dull]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English nomen, from past participle of nimen to take — more at nim Date: 14th century 1. devoid of sensation especially as a result of cold or anesthesia 2. devoid of emotion ; indifferent • numb transitive verb • numbly adverb • numbness noun

Merriam Webster's

abbreviation see Num

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & v. --adj. (often foll. by with) deprived of feeling or the power of motion (numb with cold). --v.tr. 1 make numb. 2 stupefy, paralyse. Phrases and idioms: numb-fish = electric ray. Derivatives: numbly adv. numbness n. Etymology: ME nome(n) past part. of nim take: for -b cf. THUMB

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Numb Numb, a. [OE. nume, nome, prop., seized, taken, p. p. of nimen to take, AS. niman, p. p. numen. [root]7. See Nimble, Nomad, and cf. Benumb.] 1. Enfeebled in, or destitute of, the power of sensation and motion; rendered torpid; benumbed; insensible; as, the fingers or limbs are numb with cold. ``A stony image, cold and numb.'' --Shak. 2. Producing numbness; benumbing; as, the numb, cold night. [Obs.] --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Numb Numb, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Numbed; p. pr. & vb. n. Numbing.] To make numb; to deprive of the power of sensation or motion; to render senseless or inert; to deaden; to benumb; to stupefy. For lazy winter numbs the laboring hand. --Dryden. Like dull narcotics, numbing pain. --Tennyson.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(numbs, numbing, numbed) 1. If a part of your body is numb, you cannot feel anything there. He could feel his fingers growing numb at their tips... My legs felt numb and my toes ached. ADJ: usu v-link ADJ • numbness I have recently been suffering from pain and numbness in my hands. N-UNCOUNT: oft N in n 2. If you are numb with shock, fear, or grief, you are so shocked, frightened, or upset that you cannot think clearly or feel any emotion. The mother, numb with grief, has trouble speaking... I was so shocked I went numb. ADJ: usu v-link ADJ, oft ADJ with n • numbness Many men become more aware of emotional numbness in their 40s. N-UNCOUNT: oft adj N • numbly He walked numbly into the cemetery. ADV: ADV with v 3. If an event or experience numbs you, you can no longer think clearly or feel any emotion. For a while the shock of Philippe's letter numbed her... The horror of my experience has numbed my senses. VERB: V n, V n see also mind-numbing • numbed I'm so numbed with shock that I can hardly think. ...the sort of numbed hush which usually follows an automobile accident. ADJ: usu v-link ADJ 4. If cold weather, a drug, or a blow numbs a part of your body, you can no longer feel anything in it. An injection of local anaesthetic is usually given first to numb the area... She awoke with a numbed feeling in her left leg. VERB: V n, V-ed

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Torpid, benumbed, paralyzed, deadened, insensible. II. v. a. Benumb, stupefy, deaden, make torpid.

Moby Thesaurus

KO, Laodicean, Olympian, abate, allay, alleviate, aloof, anesthetize, anesthetized, apathetic, appease, asleep, assuage, bedaze, benumb, benumbed, besot, bite, blah, blase, blunt, bored, callous, casual, chill, chloroform, coldcock, comatose, cushion, cut, dead, deaden, deaden the pain, deadened, debilitated, desensitize, desensitized, detached, diminish, disinterested, dope, dopey, dormant, droopy, drug, drugged, dull, ease, ease matters, enervated, etherize, exanimate, foment, freeze, frost, frostbite, give relief, go through, heartless, heavy, hebetudinous, hopeless, immobilize, impassible, imperceptive, impercipient, in a stupor, inanimate, incurious, indifferent, inert, insensate, insensible, insensitive, insentient, insouciant, jaded, kayo, knock out, knock senseless, knock stiff, knock unconscious, lackadaisical, languid, languorous, lay, lay out, leaden, lessen, lethargic, lifeless, listless, lull, lumpish, mitigate, mollify, moribund, mull, narcotize, nip, nonchalant, numbed, obdurate, obtund, obtuse, pad, palliate, palsy, paralyze, passive, penetrate, phlegmatic, pierce, pluckless, pooped, poultice, pour balm into, pour oil on, put to sleep, reduce, refrigerate, relieve, remote, resigned, salve, sated, senseless, slack, slacken, slake, sleepy, slow, sluggish, soften, somnolent, soothe, soporific, spiritless, spunkless, stagnant, stagnating, stoic, stultified, stun, stupe, stupefied, stupefy, subdue, supine, thick-skinned, thick-witted, torpid, uncaring, unconcerned, unconscious, unfeeling, unfelt, uninterested, unperceptive, vegetable, vegetative, wan, weary, withdrawn, world-weary