deaden

[ ded-n ]
/ ˈdɛd n /

verb (used with object)

to make less sensitive, active, energetic, or forcible; weaken: to deaden sound; to deaden the senses; to deaden the force of a blow.
to lessen the velocity of; retard: to deaden the headway of a ship.
to make impervious to sound, as a floor.

verb (used without object)

to become dead.

Origin of deaden

First recorded in 1655–65; dead + -en1

SYNONYMS FOR deaden

1 blunt, diminish, lessen, numb, dull.

OTHER WORDS FROM deaden

dead·en·er, noun un·dead·ened, adjective

Words nearby deaden

dead-tree, deadbeat, deadbeat dad, deadbolt, deadboy, deaden, deadening, deadeye, deadfall, deadhead, deadlight

Example sentences from the Web for deadener

  • "I fears me thet wound's mighty liable ter be a deadener," he said.

    A Pagan of the Hills |Charles Neville Buck

British Dictionary definitions for deadener

deaden
/ (ˈdɛdən) /

verb

to make or become less sensitive, intense, lively, etc; damp or be damped down; dull
(tr) to make acoustically less resonant he deadened the room with heavy curtains

Derived forms of deaden

deadener, noun deadening, adjective