dumb

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dumb / dəm/ • adj. 1. chiefly offens. (of a person) unable to speak, most typically because of congenital deafness: he was born deaf, dumb, and blind. ∎  (of animals) unable to speak as a natural state and thus regarded as helpless or deserving pity. ∎  temporarily unable or unwilling to speak: she stood dumb while he poured out a stream of abuse. ∎  resulting in or expressed by speechlessness: they stared in dumb amazement.2. inf. stupid: a dumb question. ∎  (of a computer terminal) able only to transmit data to or receive data from a computer; having no independent processing capability. Often contrasted with intelligent.• v. [tr.] 1. (dumb something down) inf. simplify or reduce the intellectual content of something so as to make it accessible to a larger number of people: critics have accused publishers of dumbing down books. ∎  [intr.] (dumb down) become less intellectually challenging: the need to dumb down for mass audiences.2. poetic/lit. make dumb or unheard; silence: a splendor that dazed the mind and dumbed the tongue.DERIVATIVES: dumb·ly adv.dumb·ness n.

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