from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Dumb \Dumb\, a. [AS. dumb; akin to D. dom stupid, dumb, Sw.
dumb, Goth. dumbs; cf. Gr. ? blind. See {Deaf}, and cf.
{Dummy}.]
1. Destitute of the power of speech; unable; to utter
articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes.
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To unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures.
--Hooker.
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2. Not willing to speak; mute; silent; not speaking; not
accompanied by words; as, dumb show.
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This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him. --Shak.
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To pierce into the dumb past. -- J. C.
Shairp.
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3. Lacking brightness or clearness, as a color. [R.]
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Her stern was painted of a dumb white or dun color.
--De Foe.
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{Deaf and dumb}. See {Deaf-mute}.
{Dumb ague}, or {Dumb chill}, a form of intermittent fever
which has no well-defined "chill." [U.S.]
{Dumb animal}, any animal except man; -- usually restricted
to a domestic quadruped; -- so called in contradistinction
to man, who is a "speaking animal."
{Dumb cake}, a cake made in silence by girls on St. Mark's
eve, with certain mystic ceremonies, to discover their
future husbands. --Halliwell.
{Dumb cane} (Bot.), a west Indian plant of the Arum family
({Dieffenbachia seguina}), which, when chewed, causes the
tongue to swell, and destroys temporarily the power of
speech.
{Dumb crambo}. See under {crambo}.
{Dumb show}.
(a) Formerly, a part of a dramatic representation, shown
in pantomime. "Inexplicable dumb shows and noise."
--Shak.
(b) Signs and gestures without words; as, to tell a story
in dumb show.
{To strike dumb}, to confound; to astonish; to render silent
by astonishment; or, it may be, to deprive of the power of
speech.
Syn: Silent; speechless; noiseless. See {Mute}.
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