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Webster 1913 Edition

Dull

Dull

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Duller
;
sup
erl.
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. [GREEK] 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.
Shakespeare
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
.
Syn. – Lifeless; inanimate; dead; stupid; doltish; heavy; sluggish; sleepy; drowsy; gross; cheerless; tedious; irksome; dismal; dreary; clouded; tarnished; obtuse. See
Lifeless
.

Dull

,
Verb.
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.
Shakespeare
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.
Shakespeare
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.

Dull

,
Verb.
I.
To become dull or stupid.
Rom. of R.

Webster 1828 Edition

Dull

DULL

,
Adj.
[G.]
1.
Stupid; doltish; blockish; slow of understanding; as a lad of dull genius.
2.
Heavy; sluggish; without life or spirit; as a surfeit leaves a man very dull.
3.
Slow of motion; sluggish; as a dull stream.
4.
Slow of hearing or seeing; as dull of hearing; dull of seeing.
5.
Slow to learn or comprehend; unready; awkward; as a dull scholar.
6.
Sleepy; drowsy.
7.
Sad; melancholy.
8.
Gross; cloggy; insensible; as the dull earth.
9.
Not pleasing or delightful; not exhilarating; cheerless; as, to make dictionaries is dull work.
10.
Not bright or clear; clouded; tarnished; as, the mirror is dull.
11.
Not bright; not briskly burning; as a dull fire.
12 Dim; obscure; not vivid; as a dull light.
13.
Blunt; obtuse; having a thick edge; as a dull knife or ax.
14.
Cloudy; overcast; not clear; not enlivening; as dull weather.
15.
With seamen, being without wind; as, a ship has a dull time.
16.
Not lively or animated; as a dull eye.

DULL

, v.t.
1.
To make dull; to stupify; as, to dull the senses.
2.
To blunt; as, to dull a sword or an ax.
3.
To make sad or melancholy.
4.
To hebetate; to make insensible or slow to perceive; as, to dull the ears; to dull the wits.
5.
To damp; to render lifeless; as, to dull the attention.
6.
To make heavy or slow of motion; as, to dull industry.
7.
To sully; to tarnish or cloud; as, the breath dulls a mirror.

DULL

,
Verb.
I.
To become dull or blunt; to become stupid.

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