Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Dull"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Dull \Dull\, v. i.
To become dull or stupid. --Rom. of R.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Dull \Dull\, a. [Compar. {Duller}; superl. {Dullest}.] [AS. dol
foolish; akin to gedwelan to err, D. dol mad, dwalen to
wander, err, G. toll mad, Goth. dwals foolish, stupid, cf.
Gr. ? turbid, troubled, Skr. dhvr to cause to fall. Cf.
{Dolt}, {Dwale}, {Dwell}, {Fraud}.]
1. Slow of understanding; wanting readiness of apprehension;
stupid; doltish; blockish. ``Dull at classical learning.''
--Thackeray.

She is not bred so dull but she can learn. --Shak.

2. Slow in action; sluggish; unready; awkward.

This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears
are dull of hearing. --Matt. xiii.
15.

O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue.
--Spenser.

3. Insensible; unfeeling.

Think me not So dull a devil to forget the loss Of
such a matchless wife. -- Beau. & Fl.

4. Not keen in edge or point; lacking sharpness; blunt. ``Thy
scythe is dull.'' --Herbert.

5. Not bright or clear to the eye; wanting in liveliness of
color or luster; not vivid; obscure; dim; as, a dull fire
or lamp; a dull red or yellow; a dull mirror.

6. Heavy; gross; cloggy; insensible; spiritless; lifeless;
inert. ``The dull earth.'' --Shak.

As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so
changes of study a dull brain. -- Longfellow.

7. Furnishing little delight, spirit, or variety;
uninteresting; tedious; cheerless; gloomy; melancholy;
depressing; as, a dull story or sermon; a dull occupation
or period; hence, cloudy; overcast; as, a dull day.

Along life's dullest, dreariest walk. -- Keble.

Syn: Lifeless; inanimate; dead; stupid; doltish; heavy;
sluggish; sleepy; drowsy; gross; cheerless; tedious;
irksome; dismal; dreary; clouded; tarnished; obtuse. See
{Lifeless}.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Dull \Dull\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Duller}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Dulling}.]
1. To deprive of sharpness of edge or point. ``This . . .
dulled their swords.'' --Bacon.

Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. --Shak.

2. To make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy, as the
senses, the feelings, the perceptions, and the like.

Those [drugs] she has Will stupefy and dull the
sense a while. --Shak.

Use and custom have so dulled our eyes. --Trench.

3. To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish. ``Dulls
the mirror.'' --Bacon.

4. To deprive of liveliness or activity; to render heavy; to
make inert; to depress; to weary; to sadden.

Attention of mind . . . wasted or dulled through
continuance. --Hooker.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

dull
adj 1: lacking in liveliness or animation; "he was so dull at
parties"; "a dull political campaign"; "a large dull
impassive man"; "dull days with nothing to do"; "how
dull and dreary the world is"; "fell back into one of
her dull moods" [ant: {lively}]
2: emitting or reflecting very little light; "a dull glow";
"dull silver badly in need of a polish"; "a dull sky"
[ant: {bright}]
3: being or made softer or less loud or clear; "the dull boom
of distant breaking waves"; "muffled drums"; "the muffled
noises of the street"; "muted trumpets" [syn: {muffled}, {muted},
{softened}]
4: so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; "a
boring evening with uninteresting people"; "the deadening
effect of some routine tasks"; "a dull play"; "his
competent but dull performance"; "a ho-hum speaker who
couldn't capture their attention"; "what an irksome task
the writing of long letters is"- Edmund Burke; "tedious
days on the train"; "the tiresome chirping of a cricket"-
Mark Twain; "other people's dreams are dreadfully
wearisome" [syn: {boring}, {deadening}, {ho-hum}, {irksome},
{slow}, {tedious}, {tiresome}, {wearisome}]
5: (of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted; "dull
greens and blues"
6: not keenly felt; "a dull throbbing"; "dull pain" [ant: {sharp}]
7: 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}, {dim}, {dumb}, {obtuse}, {slow}]
8: (of business) not active or brisk; "business is dull (or
slow)"; "a sluggish market" [syn: {slow}, {sluggish}]
9: not having a sharp edge or point; "the knife was too dull to
be of any use" [ant: {sharp}]
10: blunted in responsiveness or sensibility; "a dull gaze"; "so
exhausted she was dull to what went on about her"- Willa
Cather
11: not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or
against something relatively soft; "the dull thud";
"thudding bullets"; "thumping feet on the carpeted
stairs" [syn: {thudding}, {thumping}]
12: darkened with overcast; "a dark day"; "a dull sky"; "a gray
rainy afternoon"; "gray clouds"; "the sky was leaden and
thick" [syn: {gray}, {grey}, {leaden}]
v 1: make dull in appearance; "Age had dulled the surface"
2: become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or
brightness, as of a varnished surface
3: deaden (a sound or noise), esp. by wrapping [syn: {muffle},
{mute}, {damp}, {dampen}, {tone down}]
4: make numb or insensitive; "The shock numbed her senses"
[syn: {numb}, {benumb}, {blunt}]
5: make dull or blunt, as of sharp edges or knives' blades
[syn: {blunt}] [ant: {sharpen}]
6: become less interesting or attractive [syn: {pall}]
7: make less lively or vigorous; "Middle age dulled her
appetite for travel"

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