Dull Dull transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Duller ; present participle & verbal noun Dulling .] 1. To deprive of sharpness of edge or point. "This . . . dulled their swords." Bacon.

Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

Shak.

2. To make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy, as the senses, the feelings, the perceptions, and the like.

Those [ drugs] she has
Will stupefy and dull the sense a while.

Shak.

Use and custom have so dulled our eyes.

Trench.

3. To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish. " Dulls the mirror." Bacon.

4. To deprive of liveliness or activity; to render heavy; to make inert; to depress; to weary; to sadden.

Attention of mind . . . wasted or dulled through continuance.

Hooker.

Dull Dull intransitive verb To become dull or stupid. Rom. of R.

Dull-brained Dull"-brained` adjective Stupid; doltish. Shak.

Dull-browed Dull"-browed` adjective Having a gloomy look.

Dull-eyed Dull"-eyed` adjective Having eyes wanting brightness, liveliness, or vivacity. Shak.

Dull-sighted Dull"-sight`ed adjective Having poor eyesight.

Dull-witted Dull"-wit`ted adjective Stupid.

Dullard Dull"ard noun [ Dull + - ard .] A stupid person; a dunce. Shak. -- adjective Stupid. Bp. Hall.

Duller Dull"er noun One who, or that which, dulls.

Dullhead Dull"head` noun A blockhead; a dolt. Ascham.

Dullish Dull"ish adjective Somewhat dull; uninteresting; tiresome. "A series of dullish verses." Prof. Wilson.

Dullness Dull"ness noun The state of being dull; slowness; stupidity; heaviness; drowsiness; bluntness; obtuseness; dimness; want of luster; want of vividness, or of brightness. [ Written also dulness .]

And gentle dullness ever loves a joke.

Pope.

Dullsome Dull"some adjective Dull. [ R.] Gataker.

Dully Dul"ly adverb In a dull manner; stupidly; slowly; sluggishly; without life or spirit.

Supinely calm and dully innocent.

G. Lyttelton.

Dulocracy Du·loc"ra·cy noun See Doulocracy .

Dulse Dulse (dŭls) noun [ Confer Gael. duileasg ; duille leaf + uisge water. Confer Whisky .] (Botany) A seaweed of a reddish brown color, which is sometimes eaten, as in Scotland. The true dulse is Sarcophyllis edulis ; the common is Rhodymenia . [ Written also dillisk. ]

The crimson leaf of the dulse is seen
To blush like a banner bathed in slaughter.

Percival.

Dulwilly Dul"wil·ly noun [ Prob. imitative.] (Zoology) The ring plover. [ Prov. Eng.]

Duly Du"ly adverb In a due, fit, or becoming manner; as it (anything) ought to be; properly; regularly.

Dumal Du"mal adjective [ Latin dumus bramble.] Pertaining to, or set with, briers or bushes; brambly. [ R.]

Dumb Dumb adjective [ Anglo-Saxon dumb ; akin to Dutch dom stupid, dumb, Swedish dumb , Goth. dumbs ; confer Greek ... blind. See Deaf , and confer Dummy .] 1. Destitute of the power of speech; unable; to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes.

To unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures.

Hooker.

2. Not willing to speak; mute; silent; not speaking; not accompanied by words; as, dumb show.

This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.

Shak.

To pierce into the dumb past.

J. C. Shairp.

3. Lacking brightness or clearness, as a color. [ R.]

Her stern was painted of a dumb white or dun color.

De Foe.

Deaf and dumb . See Deaf-mute . -- Dumb ague , or Dumb chill , a form of intermittent fever which has no well-defined "chill." [ U.S.] -- Dumb animal , any animal except man; - - usually restricted to a domestic quadruped; -- so called in contradistinction to man, who is a "speaking animal." -- Dumb cake , a cake made in silence by girls on St. Mark's eve, with certain mystic ceremonies, to discover their future husbands. Halliwell. -- Dumb cane (Botany) , a west Indian plant of the Arum family ( Dieffenbachia seguina ), which, when chewed, causes the tongue to swell, and destroys temporarily the power of speech. - - Dumb crambo . See under crambo . -- Dumb show . (a) Formerly, a part of a dramatic representation, shown in pantomime. "Inexplicable dumb shows and noise." Shak. (b) Signs and gestures without words; as, to tell a story in dumb show . -- To strike dumb , to confound; to astonish; to render silent by astonishment; or, it may be, to deprive of the power of speech.

Syn. -- Silent; speechless; noiseless. See Mute .

Dumb Dumb transitive verb To put to silence. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Dumb-bell Dumb"-bell` noun A weight, consisting of two spheres or spheroids, connected by a short bar for a handle; used (often in pairs) for gymnastic exercise.

Dumb-waiter Dumb"-wait`er noun A framework on which dishes, food, etc., are passed from one room or story of a house to another; a lift for dishes, etc.; also, a piece of furniture with movable or revolving shelves.

Dumbledor Dum"ble·dor` noun [ The first part is probably of imitative origin. See Dor a beetle.] (Zoology) A bumblebee; also, a cockchafer. [ Prov. Eng.]

Dumbly Dumb"ly adverb In silence; mutely.

Dumbness Dumb"ness noun The quality or state of being dumb; muteness; silence; inability to speak.

Dumdum bullet Dum"dum bul"let (Mil.) A kind of manstopping bullet; -- so named from Dumdum , in India, where bullets are manufactured for the Indian army.

Dumetose Du"me·tose` adjective [ From Latin dumetum a thicket.] (Botany) Dumose.

Dumfound Dum"found` transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Dumfounded ; present participle & verbal noun Dumfounding .] To strike dumb; to confuse with astonishment. [ Written also dumbfound .] Spectator.

Dumfounder Dum"found`er transitive verb To dumfound; to confound. [ Written also dumbfounder .]

Dummador Dum"ma·dor` noun A dumbledor.

Dummerer Dum"mer·er noun One who feigns dumbness. [ Obsolete] Burton.

Dummy Dum"my adjective [ See Dumb .] 1. Silent; mute; noiseless; as a dummy engine.

2. Fictitious or sham; feigned; as, a dummy watch.

Dummy car . See under Car .

Dummy Dum"my noun ; plural Dummies 1. One who is dumb. H. Smith.

2. A sham package in a shop, or one which does not contain what its exterior indicates.

3. An imitation or copy of something, to be used as a substitute; a model; a lay figure; as, a figure on which clothing is exhibited in shop windows; a blank paper copy used to show the size of the future book, etc.

4. (Drama) One who plays a merely nominal part in any action; a sham character.

5. A thick-witted person; a dolt. [ Colloq.]

6. (Railroad) A locomotive with condensing engines, and, hence, without the noise of escaping steam; also, a dummy car.

7. (Card Playing) The fourth or exposed hand when three persons play at a four-handed game of cards.

8. A floating barge connected with a pier. Knight.

To play dummy , to play the exposed or dummy hand in cards. The partner of the dummy plays it.

Dumose, Dumous Du`mose", Du"mous adjective [ Latin dumosus , from dumus a thornbush, a bramble.] 1. Abounding with bushes and briers.

2. (Botany) Having a compact, bushy form.

Dump Dump noun [ See Dumpling .] A thick, ill-shapen piece; a clumsy leaden counter used by boys in playing chuck farthing. [ Eng.] Smart.

Dump Dump noun [ Confer dial. Swedish dumpin melancholy, Danish dump dull, low, Dutch dompig damp, German dumpf damp, dull, gloomy, and English damp , or rather perhaps dump , transitive verb Confer Damp , or Dump , transitive verb ] 1. A dull, gloomy state of the mind; sadness; melancholy; low spirits; despondency; ill humor; -- now used only in the plural.

March slowly on in solemn dump .

Hudibras.

Doleful dumps the mind oppress.

Shak.

I was musing in the midst of my dumps .

Bunyan.

» The ludicrous associations now attached to this word did not originally belong to it. "Holland's translation of Livy represents the Romans as being `in the dumps' after the battle of Cannĉ." Trench.

2. Absence of mind; revery. Locke.

3. A melancholy strain or tune in music; any tune. [ Obsolete] "Tune a deploring dump ." "Play me some merry dump ." Shak.

4. An old kind of dance. [ Obsolete] Nares.

Dump Dump transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Dumped ; present participle & verbal noun Dumping .] [ Middle English dumpen to throw down, fall down, confer Icelandic dumpa to thump, Dan. dumpe to fall suddenly, rush, dial. Swedish dimpa to fall down plump. Confer Dump sadness.] 1. To knock heavily; to stump. [ Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

2. To put or throw down with more or less of violence; hence, to unload from a cart by tilting it; as, to dump sand, coal, etc. [ U.S.] Bartlett.

Dumping car or cart , a railway car, or a cart, the body of which can be tilted to empty the contents; -- called also dump car , or dump cart .

Dump Dump noun 1. A car or boat for dumping refuse, etc.

2. A ground or place for dumping ashes, refuse, etc.

3. That which is dumped.

4. (Mining) A pile of ore or rock.

Dumpage Dump"age noun 1. The act of dumping loads from carts, especially loads of refuse matter; also, a heap of dumped matter.

2. A fee paid for the privilege of dumping loads.

Dumpiness Dump"i·ness noun The state of being dumpy.

Dumpish Dump"ish adjective Dull; stupid; sad; moping; melancholy. " A . . . dumpish and sour life." Lord Herbert.

-- Dump"ish*ly , adverb -- Dump"ish*ness , noun

Dumple Dum"ple transitive verb [ See Dumpling .] To make dumpy; to fold, or bend, as one part over another. [ R.]

He was a little man, dumpled up together.

Sir W. Scott.

Dumpling Dump"ling noun [ Dimin. of dump an illshapen piece; confer D. dompelen to plunge, dip, duck, Scot. to dump in to plunge into, and English dump , transitive verb ] A roundish mass of dough boiled in soup, or as a sort of pudding; often, a cover of paste inclosing an apple or other fruit, and boiled or baked; as, an apple dumpling .

Dumpy Dump"y adjective [ Compar. Dumpier ; superl. Dumpiest .] [ 1. From Dump a short ill-shapen piece. 2. From Dump sadness.] 1. Short and thick; of low stature and disproportionately stout.

2. Sullen or discontented. [ Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

Dumpy level Dump"y lev"el (Surv.) A level having a short telescope (hence its name) rigidly fixed to a table capable only of rotatory movement in a horizontal plane. The telescope is usually an inverting one. It is sometimes called the Troughton level , from the name of the inventor, and a variety improved by one Gavatt is known as the Gavatt level .

Dun Dun noun [ See Dune .] A mound or small hill.

Dun Dun transitive verb To cure, as codfish, in a particular manner, by laying them, after salting, in a pile in a dark place, covered with salt grass or some like substance.

Dun Dun (dŭn) transitive verb & i. [ imperfect & past participle Dunned (dŭnd); present participle & verbal noun Dunning (dŭn"nĭng).] [ Anglo-Saxon dyne noise, dynian to make a noise, or from Icelandic dynr , duna , noise, thunder, duna to thunder; the same word as English din . √74. See Din .] To ask or beset, as a debtor, for payment; to urge importunately.

Hath she sent so soon to dun ?

Swift.

Dun Dun noun 1. One who duns; a dunner.

To be pulled by the sleeve by some rascally dun .

Arbuthnot.

2. An urgent request or demand of payment; as, he sent his debtor a dun .

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