Search Result for "duller": 

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Dull \Dull\, a. [Compar. Duller; superl. Dullest.] [AS. dol foolish; akin to gedwelan to err, D. dol mad, dwalen to wander, err, G. toll mad, Goth. dwals foolish, stupid, cf. Gr. ? turbid, troubled, Skr. dhvr to cause to fall. Cf. Dolt, Dwale, Dwell, Fraud.] 1. Slow of understanding; wanting readiness of apprehension; stupid; doltish; blockish. "Dull at classical learning." --Thackeray. [1913 Webster] She is not bred so dull but she can learn. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. Slow in action; sluggish; unready; awkward. [1913 Webster] This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. --Matt. xiii. 15. [1913 Webster] O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] 3. Insensible; unfeeling. [1913 Webster] Think me not So dull a devil to forget the loss Of such a matchless wife. -- Beau. & Fl. [1913 Webster] 4. Not keen in edge or point; lacking sharpness; blunt. "Thy scythe is dull." --Herbert. [1913 Webster] 5. Not bright or clear to the eye; wanting in liveliness of color or luster; not vivid; obscure; dim; as, a dull fire or lamp; a dull red or yellow; a dull mirror. [1913 Webster] 6. Heavy; gross; cloggy; insensible; spiritless; lifeless; inert. "The dull earth." --Shak. [1913 Webster] As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain. -- Longfellow. [1913 Webster] 7. Furnishing little delight, spirit, or variety; uninteresting; tedious; cheerless; gloomy; melancholy; depressing; as, a dull story or sermon; a dull occupation or period; hence, cloudy; overcast; as, a dull day. [1913 Webster] Along life's dullest, dreariest walk. -- Keble. Syn: Lifeless; inanimate; dead; stupid; doltish; heavy; sluggish; sleepy; drowsy; gross; cheerless; tedious; irksome; dismal; dreary; clouded; tarnished; obtuse. See Lifeless. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Duller \Dull"er\, n. One who, or that which, dulls. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Dull \Dull\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Duller; p. pr. & vb. n. Dulling.] 1. To deprive of sharpness of edge or point. "This . . . dulled their swords." --Bacon. [1913 Webster] Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy, as the senses, the feelings, the perceptions, and the like. [1913 Webster] Those [drugs] she has Will stupefy and dull the sense a while. --Shak. [1913 Webster] Use and custom have so dulled our eyes. --Trench. [1913 Webster] 3. To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish. "Dulls the mirror." --Bacon. [1913 Webster] 4. To deprive of liveliness or activity; to render heavy; to make inert; to depress; to weary; to sadden. [1913 Webster] Attention of mind . . . wasted or dulled through continuance. --Hooker. [1913 Webster]