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MUTE

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A device used to soften the tone of a musical instrumentplay

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("mute" is a kind of...):

acoustic device (a device for amplifying or transmitting sound)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mute"):

sordino; sourdine (a mute for a violin)

Derivation:

mute (deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A deaf person who is unable to speakplay

Synonyms:

deaf-and-dumb person; deaf-mute; mute

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("mute" is a kind of...):

deaf person (a person with a severe auditory impairment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mute"):

dummy; silent person (a person who does not talk)

Derivation:

mute (unable to speak because of hereditary deafness)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Unable to speak because of hereditary deafnessplay

Synonyms:

dumb; mute; silent

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

inarticulate; unarticulate (without or deprived of the use of speech or words)

Derivation:

mute (a deaf person who is unable to speak)

muteness (the condition of being unable or unwilling to speak)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Expressed without speechplay

Example:

choking exasperation and wordless shame

Synonyms:

mute; tongueless; unspoken; wordless

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

inarticulate; unarticulate (without or deprived of the use of speech or words)

Derivation:

muteness (a refusal to speak when expected)

muteness (the condition of being unable or unwilling to speak)

 III. (verb) 

Verb forms

Present simple: I / you / we / they mute  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation ... he / she / it mutes  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

Past simple: muted  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

Past participle: muted  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

-ing form: muting  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

Sense 1

Meaning:

Deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrappingplay

Synonyms:

damp; dampen; dull; muffle; mute; tone down

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "mute" is one way to...):

soften (make (images or sounds) soft or softer)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

mute (a device used to soften the tone of a musical instrument)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“Oh, Agnes! Look, look, here!” —That face, so full of pity, and of grief, that rain of tears, that awful mute appeal to me, that solemn hand upraised towards Heaven!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

This day, however, he had been sombre and mute, with scarce a word a mile to bestow upon his comrade.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He relinquished the endeavour, folded his arms, and stood quiet and mute in the rain, now falling fast on his uncovered head.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

For, as quick to hear her sobbing as she had been to hear her sister's faintest whisper, her mother came to comfort her, not with words only, but the patient tenderness that soothes by a touch, tears that were mute reminders of a greater grief than Jo's, and broken whispers, more eloquent than prayers, because hopeful resignation went hand-in-hand with natural sorrow.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I thought of my breakfast then, and what had sounded like “My Charley!” but I was, I am glad to remember, as mute as a mouse about it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

So moved was the young clerk by these mute appeals, that he came forth from the trees and crossed the meadow, uncertain what to do, and yet loth to hold back from one who might need his aid.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Dreadful question: there was no one here to answer it—not even dumb sign, mute token.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Your hand, Miss March! was the only answer her mute appeal received, and too proud to cry or beseech, Amy set her teeth, threw back her head defiantly, and bore without flinching several tingling blows on her little palm.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

She stood, shrinkingly, before him, as if she were afraid to meet his eyes; but her passionate sorrow was quite hushed and mute.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"My heart is mute,—my heart is mute," I answered, struck and thrilled.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)




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