DIM

dim
    adj 1: lacking in light; not bright or harsh; "a dim light
           beside the bed"; "subdued lights and soft music" [syn:
           {dim}, {subdued}]
    2: lacking clarity or distinctness; "a dim figure in the
       distance"; "only a faint recollection"; "shadowy figures in
       the gloom"; "saw a vague outline of a building through the
       fog"; "a few wispy memories of childhood" [syn: {dim},
       {faint}, {shadowy}, {vague}, {wispy}]
    3: made dim or less bright; "the dimmed houselights brought a
       hush of anticipation"; "dimmed headlights"; "we like dimmed
       lights when we have dinner" [syn: {dimmed}, {dim}] [ant:
       {bright}, {undimmed}]
    4: offering little or no hope; "the future looked black";
       "prospects were bleak"; "Life in the Aran Islands has always
       been bleak and difficult"- J.M.Synge; "took a dim view of
       things" [syn: {black}, {bleak}, {dim}]
    5: slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; "so
       dense he never understands anything I say to him"; "never met
       anyone quite so dim"; "although dull at classical learning,
       at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray; "dumb
       officials make some really dumb decisions"; "he was either
       normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse"; "worked with
       the slow students" [syn: {dense}, {dim}, {dull}, {dumb},
       {obtuse}, {slow}]
    v 1: switch (a car's headlights) from a higher to a lower beam
         [syn: {dim}, {dip}]
    2: become dim or lusterless; "the lights dimmed and the curtain
       rose"
    3: make dim or lusterless; "Time had dimmed the silver"
    4: make dim by comparison or conceal [syn: {blind}, {dim}]
    5: become vague or indistinct; "The distinction between the two
       theories blurred" [syn: {blur}, {dim}, {slur}] [ant:
       {focalise}, {focalize}, {focus}]
    

Dim \Dim\, a. [Compar. {Dimmer}; superl. {Dimmest}.] [AS. dim;
   akin to OFries. dim, Icel. dimmr: cf. MHG. timmer, timber; of
   uncertain origin.]
   1. Not bright or distinct; wanting luminousness or clearness;
      obscure in luster or sound; dusky; darkish; obscure;
      indistinct; overcast; tarnished.
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            The dim magnificence of poetry.       --Whewell.
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            How is the gold become dim!           --Lam. iv. 1.
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            I never saw
            The heavens so dim by day.            --Shak.
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            Three sleepless nights I passed in sounding on,
            Through words and things, a dim and perilous way.
                                                  --Wordsworth.
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   2. Of obscure vision; not seeing clearly; hence, dull of
      apprehension; of weak perception; obtuse.
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            Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow. --Job
                                                  xvii. 7.
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            The understanding is dim.             --Rogers.
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   Note: Obvious compounds: dim-eyed; dim-sighted, etc.

   Syn: Obscure; dusky; dark; mysterious; imperfect; dull;
        sullied; tarnished.
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Dim \Dim\, v. i.
   To grow dim. --J. C. Shairp.
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Dim \Dim\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dimmed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Dimming}.]
   1. To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or
      distinct; to take away the luster of; to darken; to dull;
      to obscure; to eclipse.
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            A king among his courtiers, who dims all his
            attendants.                           --Dryden.
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            Now set the sun, and twilight dimmed the ways.
                                                  --Cowper.
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   2. To deprive of distinct vision; to hinder from seeing
      clearly, either by dazzling or clouding the eyes; to
      darken the senses or understanding of.
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            Her starry eyes were dimmed with streaming tears.
                                                  --C. Pitt.
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DIM statement
DIM

   <programming> (From "dimension") A {keyword} in most versions
   of the {BASIC} programming language that declares the size of
   an {array}.  E.g.

   	DIM A(100)

   declares a one-dimensional array with 101 numeric elements
   (including A(0)).

   {Visual Basic} uses the DIM (or "Dim") statement for any
   variable declaration, even {scalars}, e.g.

   Dim DepartmentNumber As Integer

   which declares a single (scalar) variable of type Integer.

   (1999-03-26)
    

252 Moby Thesaurus words for "dim":
      achromatic, achromatize, achromic, amorphous, anemic, ashen, ashy,
      banausic, bandage, barely audible, becloud, bedarken, bedazzle,
      bedim, befog, begloom, benight, black, black out, blacken, blah,
      blanch, bleach, blear, blear-eyed, bleared, bleary, bleary-eyed,
      bled white, blind, blind the eyes, blindfold, block the light,
      bloodless, blot out, blunt, blunt-witted, blur, blurred, blurry,
      brown, cadaverous, caliginous, cast a shadow, chloranemic,
      clear as mud, cloud, cloud over, cloudy, colorless, confused, dark,
      dark-colored, darken, darken over, darkish, darkle, darksome, daze,
      dazzle, dead, deadly pale, deathly pale, decolor, decolorize,
      decrescendo, defocus, deprive of sight, dim out, dim-eyed,
      dim-sighted, dim-witted, dimmed, dimmish, dimpsy, dingy, discolor,
      discolored, distant, dopey, drain, drain of color, dreary, dull,
      dull of mind, dull-headed, dull-pated, dull-sighted, dull-witted,
      dusk, dusky, eclipse, encloud, encompass with shadow, etiolate,
      etiolated, excecate, exsanguinated, exsanguine, exsanguineous,
      fade, faded, faint, faint-voiced, fallow, fat-witted, feeble,
      feeble-eyed, film, filmy, filmy-eyed, flat, fog, foggy, fume,
      fuzzy, gentle, ghastly, glare, gloam, gloom, gloomy, gouge,
      gravel-blind, gray, gross-headed, grow dark, grow dim, haggard,
      half-blind, half-heard, half-seen, half-visible, haze, hazy, heavy,
      hebetudinous, hoodwink, hueless, humdrum, hypochromic, ill-defined,
      inconspicuous, indefinite, indeterminate, indistinct,
      indistinguishable, lackluster, leaden, livid, lose resolution, low,
      low-profile, lower, lurid, lusterless, make blind, mat, mealy,
      merely glimpsed, mist, misty, mole-eyed, monotone, monotonous,
      muddy, murk, murksome, murky, murmured, muted, nebulous, neutral,
      obfuscate, obnubilate, obscure, obtuse, obumbrate, occult,
      occultate, opaque, out of focus, overcast, overcloud, overshadow,
      pale, pale as death, pale-faced, pallid, pasty, pedestrian,
      peroxide, pianissimo, piano, poky, purblind, sallow, sand-blind,
      scarcely heard, semidark, semivisible, shade, shadow, shadowy,
      shapeless, sickly, slow, slow-witted, sluggish, snow-blind, soft,
      soft-sounding, soft-voiced, soften, somber, stodgy, strike blind,
      subaudible, subdued, subfusc, tallow-faced, tarnish, tenebrous,
      thick-brained, thick-headed, thick-pated, thick-witted,
      thickskulled, tone down, toneless, transcendent, uncertain,
      unclear, uncolored, undefined, undetermined, unilluminated,
      unplain, unrecognizable, vague, wan, wash out, washed-out, waxen,
      weak, weak-eyed, weak-voiced, whey-faced, whispered, white, whiten,
      wooden