| / English Dictionary |
DEAF
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
People who have severe hearing impairments
Example:
many of the deaf use sign language
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("deaf" is a kind of...):
people ((plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively)
Meronyms (members of "deaf"):
deaf person (a person with a severe auditory impairment)
Derivation:
deaf (make or render deaf)
deaf (lacking or deprived of the sense of hearing wholly or in part)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Lacking or deprived of the sense of hearing wholly or in part
Classified under:
Similar:
deaf-and-dumb; deaf-mute (lacking the sense of hearing and the ability to speak)
deafened (caused to hear poorly or not at all)
hard-of-hearing; hearing-impaired (having a hearing loss)
deaf as a post; profoundly deaf; stone-deaf; unhearing (totally deaf; unable to hear anything)
tone-deaf (unable to appreciate music)
Antonym:
hearing (able to perceive sound)
Derivation:
deaf (people who have severe hearing impairments)
deafness (partial or complete loss of hearing)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(usually followed by 'to') unwilling or refusing to pay heed
Example:
deaf to her warnings
Synonyms:
deaf; indifferent
Classified under:
Similar:
heedless; unheeding (marked by or paying little heed or attention)
III. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Make or render deaf
Example:
a deafening noise
Synonyms:
deaf; deafen
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Hypernyms (to "deaf" is one way to...):
desensitise; desensitize (cause not to be sensitive)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Derivation:
deaf (people who have severe hearing impairments)
Context examples:
The cook was bad-tempered, the old coachman was deaf, and Esther the only one who ever took any notice of the young lady.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
In profoundly deaf children, the auditory system undergoes a functional reorganisation, repurposing itself to respond more to visual stimuli, for example.
(Mild-to-moderate hearing loss in children leads to changes in how brain processes sound, University of Cambridge)
He sprang into the water and swam after it, deaf to the sharp cries of Grey Beaver to return.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Thornton’s doubt was strong in his face, but his fighting spirit was aroused—the fighting spirit that soars above odds, fails to recognize the impossible, and is deaf to all save the clamor for battle.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
I am sure I do not know how it was to have been done better, cried Mrs. Norris, unable to be longer deaf; unless I had gone myself, indeed; but I cannot be in two places at once; and I was talking to Mr. Green at that very time about your mother's dairymaid, by her desire, and had promised John Groom to write to Mrs. Jefferies about his son, and the poor fellow was waiting for me half an hour.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Emma soon recollected, and understood him; and while she joined in the laugh, it was evident from Jane's countenance that she too was really hearing him, though trying to seem deaf.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
I may not have used it to the best account; I was young and inexperienced; but I never turned a deaf ear to its artless pleading.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
She gathered many of the stones which I built into the walls of the hut; also, she turned a deaf ear to my entreaties when I begged her to desist.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
But his admirers' ears were deaf.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
This vocal exercise usually conquered Meg, but John sat as unmoved as the post which is popularly believed to be deaf.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
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