dull

Definitions

1. 1.Slow in action; sluggish; unready; awkward. This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. Matt. xiii.
2. 2.O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue. Spenser.
3. 3.Insensible; unfeeling. Think me not So dull a devil to forget the loss Of such a matchless wife. Beau. & Fl.
4. 4.Not keen in edge or point; lacking sharpness; blunt. "Thy scythe is dull." Herbert.
5. 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. 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. 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. See Lifeless.
8. 8.To deprive of sharpness of edge or point. "This . . . dulled their swords." Bacon. Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. Shak.
9. 9.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.
10. 10.To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish. "Dulls the mirror." Bacon.
11. 11.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.
12. 12.To become dull or stupid. Rom. of R.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "dull" mean?
• What is another word for "dull"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is dull.

• What is slow in action; sluggish; unready; awkward. This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. Matt. xiii called?
• What is o, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue. Spenser called?
• What is insensible; unfeeling. Think me not So dull a devil to forget the loss Of such a matchless wife. Beau. & Fl called?
• What is not keen in edge or point; lacking sharpness; blunt. "Thy scythe is dull." Herbert called?
• What is 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 called?
• What is 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 called?
• What is to deprive of sharpness of edge or point. "This . . . dulled their swords." Bacon. Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. Shak called?
• What is to render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish. "Dulls the mirror." Bacon called?
• What is 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 called?