| / English Dictionary |
STILLNESS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(poetic) tranquil silence
Example:
the still of the night
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("stillness" is a kind of...):
quiet; silence (the absence of sound)
Domain category:
poesy; poetry; verse (literature in metrical form)
Derivation:
still (marked by absence of sound)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A state of no motion or movement
Example:
the utter motionlessness of a marble statue
Synonyms:
lifelessness; motionlessness; stillness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("stillness" is a kind of...):
state (the way something is with respect to its main attributes)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stillness"):
fixedness; immobility; stationariness (remaining in place)
Derivation:
still (free from noticeable current)
still (not in physical motion)
still (used of pictures; of a single or static photograph not presented so as to create the illusion of motion; or representing objects not capable of motion)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Calmness without winds
Synonyms:
stillness; windlessness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("stillness" is a kind of...):
calmness (an absence of strong winds or rain)
Derivation:
still ((of a body of water) free from disturbance by heavy waves)
still (free from noticeable current)
Context examples:
From that time forth, no one would any longer venture into the forest, and it lay there in deep stillness and solitude, and nothing was seen of it, but sometimes an eagle or a hawk flying over it.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
There was an utter stillness, save for the sharp breathing of the Lady Tiphaine and for the gentle soughing of the wind outside, which wafted to their ears the distant call upon a swine-herd's horn.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
To identify whether there are aspects of auditory perception that are universal across cultures, McDermott and his team have traveled into places ranging from Boston to remote Amazonia, where they record sounds ranging from the clatter of a noisy diner to the stillness of a woodland path.
(Understanding how the brain makes sense of sound, National Science Foundation)
At first the steps of a few belated villagers, or the sound of voices from the village, lightened our vigil, but one by one these interruptions died away, and an absolute stillness fell upon us, save for the chimes of the distant church, which told us of the progress of the night, and for the rustle and whisper of a fine rain falling amid the foliage which roofed us in.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The cold stars shone in mockery, and the bare trees waved their branches above me; now and then the sweet voice of a bird burst forth amidst the universal stillness.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
There seemed a strange stillness over everything; but as I listened I heard as if from down below in the valley the howling of many wolves.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
I like this day; I like that sky of steel; I like the sternness and stillness of the world under this frost.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Then, reassured by the absolute stillness and by the growing light, I took my courage in both hands and stole back along the path which I had come.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
London hummed solemnly all around; but nearer at hand, the stillness was only broken by the sounds of a footfall moving to and fro along the cabinet floor.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
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