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View synonyms for deafen

deafen

[ def-uhn ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to make deaf:

    The accident deafened him for life.

  2. to stun or overwhelm with noise:

    The pounding of the machines deafened us.

  3. Obsolete. to render (a sound) inaudible, especially by a louder sound.


deafen

/ ˈdɛfən /

verb

  1. tr to make deaf, esp momentarily, as by a loud noise
“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


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Other Words From

  • deafen·ing·ly adverb
  • half-deafened adjective
  • non·deafened adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of deafen1

First recorded in 1590–1600; deaf + -en 1
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Example Sentences

It’s deafening, really — perhaps because there’s a standing ovation beneath it.

Relatives told WLS that Melissa’s father jetted outside of the house after hearing the deafening gunshots.

The circle-of-life spectacle comes with a deafening mating ritual—plus sex in the treetops, predation and also, inevitably, death.

From Time

Sara and Matt Taglieri were enjoying dinner at their home in New Hampshire on Tuesday when a deafening blast knocked pictures off their walls and shook their house’s foundation.

Three species make up Brood X, and they are known for their fire-engine-red eyes, their deafening choruses and their dramatic emergence every 17 years.

Silence helps them to continue depriving their people of opportunities…the silence is so loud that it might deafen society.

He told Barb that a mortar landed close enough to temporarily deafen him.

He cannot hear us up there; and, by the belt of Ashur, the king's voice raised in anger is enough to deafen a man in both ears!

Trembling she took shelter inside the open stable door, her heart beating so hard it seemed to deafen her.

Them racketin's would deafen the saints themselves, so they would.

The noise of the discharge is an evil, it ought to be made to do work, not deafen.

Will you give me my cue—it is of no use to ask him when we are to deafen you.

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deaf-blinddeafening