Contextualizebeta

numb

adj
/nʌm/

Etymology

From the past participle of nim (“to take”). Compare German benommen (“dazed, numb”) and Old Norse numinn. The final ⟨b⟩ is a later addition; it was never pronounced, and did not appear in the original word.

  1. derived from numinn

Definitions

  1. Physically unable to feel, not having the power of sensation.

    • fingers numb with cold
    • legs numb from kneeling

  2. Emotionally unable to feel or respond in a normal way.

    • numb with shock; numb with boredom
    • […] when we know that hundreds are rendered homeless every day, and countless thousands are killed and wounded, men and boys mowed down like a field of grain, and with as little compunction, we grow a little bit numb to human misery.
    • […] seeing the dog—somehow that made me feel again. I’d been too dazed, too numb, to feel the full viciousness of it.

  3. Dumb or stupid.

  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. Causing numbness.

      • […] he did lap me Even in his own garments, and gave himself, All thin and naked to the numb cold night.

    2. To cause to become numb (physically or emotionally).

      • The dentist gave me novocaine to numb my tooth before drilling, thank goodness.
      • When I first heard the news, I was numbed by the shock.
      • The ravviſh danke of clumzie vvinter ramps / The fluent ſummers vaine: and drizling ſleete / Chilleth the vvan bleak cheek of the numd earth, / VVhilſt ſnarling guſts nibble the iuyceles leaues, / From the nak't ſhuddring branch; […]

    3. To cause (a feeling) to be less intense.

      • He turned to alcohol to numb his pain.
      • [I was] thankful for the pain, which helped to numb my terror.

    4. To cause (the mind, faculties, etc.) to be less acute.

      • […] hunger, fatigue, and despairing hopelessness had numbed his brain […]
      • The noise, the rush of air past our ears, was positively terrific. It actually seemed to numb the senses and make it almost impossible to take in impressions at all.
      • [The sofa] exhaled a breath of trapped ancient farts, barf-smell, and antiseptic, the parfum de asylum that gradually numbed my nose to all other scents on the ward.

    5. To become numb (especially physically).

      • […] after fumbling with numbing fingers for ten or fifteen minutes, he waved his hand with a gesture of despair […]
      • […] once more his feet began to numb. Again he got down and stamped the circulation going, but as soon as he began to ride again they numbed.

The neighborhood

Derived

benumb, brain-numbing, numb-brained, numbfish, numb-handed, numbhead, numbish, numbly, numbness, numbnuts, numbskull, numbskulled, numbwit, numby, renumb, unnumb, mind-numbing, numb out

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at numb. 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.

01numb02stupid03stupor04consciousness05conscious06awake07asleep

A definitional loop anchored at numb. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at numb

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