| / English Dictionary |
BLUNT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment
Example:
facing the stark reality of the deadline
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
unconditional; unconditioned (not conditional)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion
Example:
a point-blank accusation
Synonyms:
blunt; candid; forthright; frank; free-spoken; outspoken; plainspoken; point-blank; straight-from-the-shoulder
Classified under:
Similar:
direct (straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action)
Derivation:
bluntness (the quality of being direct and outspoken)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Used of a knife or other blade; not sharp
Example:
a blunt instrument
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
dull (not having a sharp edge or point)
Derivation:
bluntness (without sharpness or clearness of edge or point)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Having a broad or rounded end
Example:
thick marks made by a blunt pencil
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
pointless; unpointed (not having a point especially a sharp point)
Derivation:
bluntness (without sharpness or clearness of edge or point)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they blunt ... he / she / it blunts
Past simple: blunted
Past participle: blunted
-ing form: blunting
Sense 1
Meaning:
Make less lively, intense, or vigorous; impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation
Example:
deaden a sound
Synonyms:
blunt; deaden
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "blunt" is one way to...):
alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "blunt"):
obtund (reduce the edge or violence of)
petrify (cause to become stonelike or stiff or dazed and stunned from fright)
break; damp; dampen; soften; weaken (lessen in force or effect)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 2
Meaning:
Make less sharp
Example:
blunt the knives
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "blunt" is one way to...):
alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 3
Meaning:
Make less intense
Example:
blunted emotions
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "blunt" is one way to...):
weaken (lessen the strength of)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 4
Meaning:
Make dull or blunt
Example:
Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge
Synonyms:
blunt; dull
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "blunt" is one way to...):
alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 5
Meaning:
Make numb or insensitive
Example:
The shock numbed her senses
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Hypernyms (to "blunt" is one way to...):
desensitise; desensitize (cause not to be sensitive)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Context examples:
When moving within a 3-D matrix designed to mimic conditions in the body, the cells developed blunt, cylindrical protrusions termed lobopodia.
(New Mechanism of Cell Movement Revealed, NIH)
The head is broad and shaped like a blunt triangle.
(Akita, NCI Thesaurus)
A cell characterized by the presence of a tuft of blunt, squat microvilli (120-140/cell) on the cell surface.
(Brush Cell, NCI Thesaurus)
One of the signatures of damaged cells in cancer or blunt trauma is a change in the pattern of these microtubule markers.
(Scientists unravel the mystery of the tubulin code, NIH)
A measurement of the Burr cells (erythrocytes characterized by the presence of small, blunt projections evenly distributed across the cell surface) in a biological specimen.
(Burr Cell Count, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)
"That's why he nearly blunted my claws," said the Lion.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
The head is large and the muzzle is a bit shorter than the skull, with a blunt profile.
(Anatolian Shepherd Dog, NCI Thesaurus)
A malignant neoplasm characterized by a vascular proliferation which usually contains blunt endothelial cells.
(Kaposi sarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)
I'll finish with 'em at the island, as soon's the blunt's on board, and a pity it is.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
As it was, I lived ungazed at and unmolested, hardly thanked for the pittance of food and clothes which I gave, so much does suffering blunt even the coarsest sensations of men.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
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