| / English Dictionary |
NUMB
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
So frightened as to be unable to move; stunned or paralyzed with terror; petrified
Example:
too numb with fear to move
Classified under:
Similar:
afraid (filled with fear or apprehension)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Lacking sensation
Example:
numb with cold
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
insensible (incapable of physical sensation)
Derivation:
numbness (partial or total lack of sensation in a part of the body; a symptom of nerve damage or dysfunction)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(followed by 'to') not showing human feeling or sensitivity; unresponsive
Example:
numb to the cries for mercy
Synonyms:
dead; numb
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
insensitive (deficient in human sensibility; not mentally or morally sensitive)
Derivation:
numbness (the trait of lacking enthusiasm for or interest in things generally)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they numb ... he / she / it numbs
Past simple: numbed
Past participle: numbed
-ing form: numbing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Make numb or insensitive
Example:
The shock numbed her senses
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Hypernyms (to "numb" is one way to...):
desensitise; desensitize (cause not to be sensitive)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sentence examples:
The bad news will numb him
The performance is likely to numb Sue
Context examples:
After it had been refused by a number of magazines, he had taken Brissenden's rejected advice and started, "The Shame of the Sun" on the round of publishers.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
A traditional unit of length defined as the number of opening per inch of a screen, e.g. the number of strands or particles per inch.
(Mesh, NCI Thesaurus)
There were but eight; yet, somehow, as they flocked in, they gave the impression of a much larger number.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
The line number of the medical history.
(Medical History Line Number, NCI Thesaurus)
A control number unique to an object.
(Accession Number, NCI Thesaurus)
Over the past two years, you’ve worked very hard and generated a number of interesting opportunities for your career.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
I felt myself quite a proctor when I read this document aloud with all possible ceremony, and set forth its provisions, any number of times, to those whom they concerned.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Results showed youngsters using probiotics lost a 'significantly' higher number of pounds compared to those who didn't.
(Supplements of 'Good Bacteria' Can Enhance Weight Loss in Dieters, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) study on dietary risks finds that in southern sub-Saharan Africa, diets low in fruits were the number one reason for diet-related deaths.
(Poor Diet Kills More People Than Smoking, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Furthermore, the results show that NM-MRI signal reflects concentrations of neuromelanin in tissue, rather than just the number of neuromelanin-containing neurons.
(Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI identified as a potential biomarker for psychosis, National Institutes of Health)
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