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Deaf
Definitions
- 1 Unable (or partially able) to hear.
"My brother has been deaf since sustaining injuries in the war."
- 2 Of or relating to the culture surrounding deaf users of sign languages. not-comparable
"Today, sign languages are the means of communication and interaction in Deaf communities around the world and have been shown to contain all the linguistic complexities and potentials of spoken languages (Stokoe, 1960/2005)."
- 3 Unwilling to listen or be persuaded; determinedly inattentive.
"Those people are deaf to reason."
- 4 Of or relating to the community of deaf people.
"The best place to fight Hollywood deafism is in our deaf schools. If we give our children understanding and appreciation of our rich culture and sign language, the students will gain a deaf heritage and become more creative, more aware, and more assertive global deaf citizens."
- 5 Obscurely heard; stifled; deadened. obsolete
"A deaf murmur through the squadron went."
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- 6 Decayed; tasteless; useless. UK, dialectal, obsolete
"a deaf nut; deaf corn"
- 1 lacking or deprived of the sense of hearing wholly or in part wordnet
- 2 (usually followed by ‘to’) unwilling or refusing to pay heed wordnet
- 1 A deaf person. nonstandard, rare
"Among the second group of philanthropic educational institutions the institutes for the deafs and dumbs must be mentioned."
- 2 people who have severe hearing impairments wordnet
- 1 To deafen. obsolete, transitive
"It is enough, my hearing shall be punish'd With what shall happen, -- 'gainst the which there is No deafing -- but to hear, not taint mine eye With dread sights that it may shun."
- 2 make or render deaf wordnet
Etymology
From Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub, from Proto-Germanic *daubaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τυφλός (tuphlós, “blind”). See also dumb. Doublet of daff, dof, and dowf.
From Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub, from Proto-Germanic *daubaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τυφλός (tuphlós, “blind”). See also dumb. Doublet of daff, dof, and dowf.
From Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub, from Proto-Germanic *daubaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τυφλός (tuphlós, “blind”). See also dumb. Doublet of daff, dof, and dowf.
From deaf.
See also for "deaf"
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Unscramble this word: deaf