Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Duller"

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

Duller \Dull"er\, n.
One who, or that which, dulls.

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.


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