deaden

[ ded-n ]

verb (used with object)

1. to make less sensitive, active, energetic, or forcible; weaken:

   to deaden sound; to deaden the senses; to deaden the force of a blow.

   Synonyms: dull, numb, lessen, diminish, blunt

2. to lessen the velocity of; retard:

   to deaden the headway of a ship.

3. to make impervious to sound, as a floor.

verb (used without object)

1. to become dead.

deaden

/ ˈdɛdən /

verb

1. to make or become less sensitive, intense, lively, etc; damp or be damped down; dull
2. tr to make acoustically less resonant

   he deadened the room with heavy curtains

Derived Forms

• ˈdeadening, adjective
• ˈdeadener, noun

Other Words From

• deaden·er noun
• un·deadened adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of deaden¹

First recorded in 1655–65; dead + -en ¹

Example Sentences

In the dressing room, Welch was "crawling around and banging my head on the floor, trying desperately to deaden the pain within", she wrote.

From BBC

The truth, however, is the obscure word - meaning "to deaden" - is the name of a police-led training exercise.

From BBC

Meanwhile, The Concise Oxford Dictionary says to obtund is "to blunt or deaden".

From BBC

Not that anyone reading the signs needs to attempt to blunt or deaden anything.

From BBC

The biggest is the ball and the size of the stitches, Nathan said, and MLB made slight adjustments to deaden the ball prior to the 2021 season.

From Washington Times

Related Words

• desensitize
• impair