deaden

[ded-n]

See more synonyms for deaden on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to make less sensitive, active, energetic, or forcible; weaken: to deaden sound; to deaden the senses; to deaden the force of a blow.
to lessen the velocity of; retard: to deaden the headway of a ship.
to make impervious to sound, as a floor.

verb (used without object)

to become dead.

Origin of deaden

First recorded in 1655–65; dead + -en¹

Related formsdead·en·er, nounun·dead·ened, adjective

Synonyms

See more synonyms for deaden on Thesaurus.com

1. blunt, diminish, lessen, numb, dull.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for deaden

Contemporary Examples

Are you talking about your battle with rheumatoid arthritis and the need to deaden the pain of it?
Kathleen Turner's New Broadway High
Kevin Sessums
April 17, 2011

Historical Examples

Ought she not to hold it apart, and to shield it with her hand to deaden its brightness?
Diderot and the Encyclopdists
John Morley
Even concussion of the brain had failed to deaden the memory of that awful night.
Quin
Alice Hegan Rice
A little lamp black will serve to deaden the color of the paint.
Apple Growing
M. C. Burritt
It would cripple his energies, and deaden his desire for active employment.
The Way of All Flesh
Samuel Butler
Into a labyrinth now my soul would fly, But with thy beauty will I deaden it.
Endymion
John Keats

British Dictionary definitions for deaden

deaden

verb

to make or become less sensitive, intense, lively, etc; damp or be damped down; dull
(tr) to make acoustically less resonanthe deadened the room with heavy curtains

Derived Formsdeadener, noundeadening, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for deaden

v.

1660s "deprive of or diminish (some quality)," from dead (adj.) + -en (1). Earlier the verb was simply dead. Related: Deadened; deadening.

deaden

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}deaden

Synonyms

Examples from the Web for deaden

Contemporary Examples

Are you talking about your battle with rheumatoid arthritis and the need to deaden the pain of it?

Historical Examples

Ought she not to hold it apart, and to shield it with her hand to deaden its brightness?

Even concussion of the brain had failed to deaden the memory of that awful night.

A little lamp black will serve to deaden the color of the paint.

It would cripple his energies, and deaden his desire for active employment.

Into a labyrinth now my soul would fly, But with thy beauty will I deaden it.

deaden

Word Origin and History for deaden

v.

Origin of deaden