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MUTE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A device used to soften the tone of a musical instrument
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("mute" is a kind of...):
acoustic device (a device for amplifying or transmitting sound)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mute"):
sordino; sourdine (a mute for a violin)
Derivation:
mute (deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A deaf person who is unable to speak
Synonyms:
deaf-and-dumb person; deaf-mute; mute
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("mute" is a kind of...):
deaf person (a person with a severe auditory impairment)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mute"):
dummy; silent person (a person who does not talk)
Derivation:
mute (unable to speak because of hereditary deafness)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Unable to speak because of hereditary deafness
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
inarticulate; unarticulate (without or deprived of the use of speech or words)
Derivation:
mute (a deaf person who is unable to speak)
muteness (the condition of being unable or unwilling to speak)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Expressed without speech
Example:
choking exasperation and wordless shame
Synonyms:
mute; tongueless; unspoken; wordless
Classified under:
Similar:
inarticulate; unarticulate (without or deprived of the use of speech or words)
Derivation:
muteness (a refusal to speak when expected)
muteness (the condition of being unable or unwilling to speak)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they mute ... he / she / it mutes
Past simple: muted
Past participle: muted
-ing form: muting
Sense 1
Meaning:
Deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping
Synonyms:
damp; dampen; dull; muffle; mute; tone down
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Hypernyms (to "mute" is one way to...):
soften (make (images or sounds) soft or softer)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Derivation:
mute (a device used to soften the tone of a musical instrument)
Context examples:
“Oh, Agnes! Look, look, here!” —That face, so full of pity, and of grief, that rain of tears, that awful mute appeal to me, that solemn hand upraised towards Heaven!
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
This day, however, he had been sombre and mute, with scarce a word a mile to bestow upon his comrade.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He relinquished the endeavour, folded his arms, and stood quiet and mute in the rain, now falling fast on his uncovered head.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
For, as quick to hear her sobbing as she had been to hear her sister's faintest whisper, her mother came to comfort her, not with words only, but the patient tenderness that soothes by a touch, tears that were mute reminders of a greater grief than Jo's, and broken whispers, more eloquent than prayers, because hopeful resignation went hand-in-hand with natural sorrow.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
I thought of my breakfast then, and what had sounded like “My Charley!” but I was, I am glad to remember, as mute as a mouse about it.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
So moved was the young clerk by these mute appeals, that he came forth from the trees and crossed the meadow, uncertain what to do, and yet loth to hold back from one who might need his aid.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Dreadful question: there was no one here to answer it—not even dumb sign, mute token.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Your hand, Miss March! was the only answer her mute appeal received, and too proud to cry or beseech, Amy set her teeth, threw back her head defiantly, and bore without flinching several tingling blows on her little palm.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
She stood, shrinkingly, before him, as if she were afraid to meet his eyes; but her passionate sorrow was quite hushed and mute.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
"My heart is mute,—my heart is mute," I answered, struck and thrilled.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
