deaf
adjEtymology
From Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub, from Proto-Germanic *daubaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τυφλός (tuphlós, “blind”). See also dumb. Doublet of daff, dof, and dowf. Cognate with Dutch doof, German taub, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål døv, Norwegian Nynorsk dauv, Swedish döv, Faroese deyvur, Icelandic daufur.
Definitions
Unable (or partially able) to hear.
- My brother has been deaf since sustaining injuries in the war.
- It's important for TV shows to provide closed captioning for the deaf.
- Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf.
Unwilling to listen or be persuaded
Unwilling to listen or be persuaded; determinedly inattentive.
- Those people are deaf to reason.
- O, that men's ears should be / To counsel deaf, but not to flattery!
Of or relating to the community of deaf people.
›+ 5 more definitionsshow fewer
Obscurely heard
Obscurely heard; stifled; deadened.
- A deaf murmur through the squadron went.
Decayed
Decayed; tasteless; useless.
- a deaf nut; deaf corn
- If the season be unkindly and intemperate, they [peppers] will catch a blast; and then the seeds will be deafe, void, light, and naught.
A deaf person.
- Among the second group of philanthropic educational institutions the institutes for the deafs and dumbs must be mentioned.
- Negotiations for South Vietnam's political future and the enforcement of cease-fire between two sides progressed like a conversation between two deafs.
- "I work with the blind mostly. Some deafs too," I told her.
To deafen.
- It is enough, my hearing shall be punish'd With what shall happen, -- 'gainst the which there is No deafing -- but to hear, not taint mine eye With dread sights that it may shun.
- Svvift as a VVhirl-vvind to the Nurſe he flyes; / And deafs his ſtormy Subjects vvith his cries.
Of or relating to the culture surrounding deaf users of sign languages.
- Today, sign languages are the means of communication and interaction in Deaf communities around the world and have been shown to contain all the linguistic complexities and potentials of spoken languages (Stokoe, 1960/2005).
- There are Deaf clubs in many cities, but the clubs are just a part of the larger community of Deaf people.
The neighborhood
- synonymhard of hearing
- synonymhearing-impaired
- neighborinaudible
Derived
are you deaf, beat-deaf, cock a deaf 'un, Deaf, deaf adder, deaf aid, deaf and dumb, deaf as a doorknob, deaf as a doornail, deaf as a doorpost, deaf as a post, deafblind, deaf-blind, deaf-blindness, deafen, deafie, deafish, deafism, deafly, Deaflympian, Deaflympic, Deaflympics, deaf-mute, deaf-muteness, deafness, deafo, Deaf Smith County, deaf waddler, dip hop, fall on deaf ears, I'm deaf, inattentionally deaf, nondeaf, nose deaf, preach to deaf ears, semideaf, stone-deaf, stone deaf, tone-deaf, turn a deaf ear · +1 more
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at deaf. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at deaf. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
8 hops · closes at deaf
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA