Library / English Dictionary

DEADEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Convert (metallic mercury) into a grey powder consisting of minute globules, as by shaking with chalk or fatty oil

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "deaden" is one way to...):

convert (change the nature, purpose, or function of something)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make less lively, intense, or vigorous; impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation

Example:

deaden a sound

Synonyms:

blunt; deaden

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "deaden" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "deaden"):

obtund (reduce the edge or violence of)

petrify (cause to become stonelike or stiff or dazed and stunned from fright)

break; damp; dampen; soften; weaken (lessen in force or effect)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

enliven (make lively)

Derivation:

deadening (the act of making something futile and useless (as by routine))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become lifeless, less lively, intense, or active; lose life, force, or vigor

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "deaden" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

deadening (the act of making something futile and useless (as by routine))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make vague or obscure or make (an image) less visible

Example:

muffle the message

Synonyms:

damp; dampen; deaden

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "deaden" is one way to...):

break; damp; dampen; soften; weaken (lessen in force or effect)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Lessen the momentum or velocity of

Example:

deaden a ship's headway

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "deaden" is one way to...):

retard (cause to move more slowly or operate at a slower rate)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Make vapid or deprive of spirit

Example:

deadened wine

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "deaden" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 7

Meaning:

Cut a girdle around so as to kill by interrupting the circulation of water and nutrients

Example:

girdle the plant

Synonyms:

deaden; girdle

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "deaden" is one way to...):

incise (make an incision into by carving or cutting)

Domain category:

flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits