Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Dim"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Dim \Dim\, v. i.
To grow dim. --J. C. Shairp.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Dim \Dim\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dimmed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Dimming}.]
1. To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or
distinct; to take away the luster of; to darken; to dull;
to obscure; to eclipse.
A king among his courtiers, who dims all his
attendants. --Dryden.
Now set the sun, and twilight dimmed the ways.
--Cowper.
2. To deprive of distinct vision; to hinder from seeing
clearly, either by dazzling or clouding the eyes; to
darken the senses or understanding of.
Her starry eyes were dimmed with streaming tears.
--C. Pitt.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Dim \Dim\, a. [Compar. {Dimmer}; superl. {Dimmest}.] [AS. dim;
akin to OFries. dim, Icel. dimmr: cf. MHG. timmer, timber; of
uncertain origin.]
1. Not bright or distinct; wanting luminousness or clearness;
obscure in luster or sound; dusky; darkish; obscure;
indistinct; overcast; tarnished.
The dim magnificence of poetry. --Whewell.
How is the gold become dim! --Lam. iv. 1.
I never saw The heavens so dim by day. --Shak.
Three sleepless nights I passed in sounding on,
Through words and things, a dim and perilous way.
--Wordsworth.
2. Of obscure vision; not seeing clearly; hence, dull of
apprehension; of weak perception; obtuse.
Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow. --Job
xvii. 7.
The understanding is dim. --Rogers.
Note: Obvious compounds: dim-eyed; dim-sighted, etc.
Syn: Obscure; dusky; dark; mysterious; imperfect; dull;
sullied; tarnished.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
dim
adj 1: lacking in light; not bright or harsh; "a dim light beside
the bed"; "subdued lights and soft music" [syn: {subdued}]
2: lacking clarity or distinctness; "a dim figure in the
distance"; "only a faint recollection"; "shadowy figures
in the gloom"; "saw a vague outline of a building through
the fog"; "a few wispy memories of childhood" [syn: {faint},
{shadowy}, {vague}, {wispy}]
3: made dim or less bright; "the dimmed houselights brought a
hush of anticipation"; "dimmed headlights"; "we like
dimmed lights when we have dinner" [syn: {dimmed}] [ant: {undimmed}]
4: offering little or no hope; "the future looked black";
"prospects were bleak"; "Life in the Aran Islands has
always been bleak and difficult"- J.M.Synge; "took a dim
view of things" [syn: {black}, {bleak}]
5: slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity;
"so dense he never understands anything I say to him";
"never met anyone quite so dim"; "although dull at
classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly
quick"- Thackeray; "dumb officials make some really dumb
decisions"; "he was either normally stupid or being
deliberately obtuse"; "worked with the slow students"
[syn: {dense}, {dull}, {dumb}, {obtuse}, {slow}]
v 1: switch a car's headlights from a higher to a lower beam
[syn: {dip}]
2: become or make darker; "The screen darkend"; "He darkened
the colors by adding brown" [syn: {darken}] [ant: {brighten}]
3: become dim or lusterless; "the lights dimmed and the curtain
rose"
4: make dim or lusterless; "Time had dimmed the silver"
5: make dim by comparison or conceal [syn: {blind}]
6: become vague or indistinct; "The distinction between the two
theories blurred" [syn: {blur}, {slur}] [ant: {focus}]
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