Synonyms for deafen


Grammar : Verb
Spell : def-uh n
Phonetic Transcription : ˈdɛf ən


Définition of deafen

Origin :
  • 1590s, "to make deaf," from deaf + -en (1). The earlier verb was simply deaf (mid-15c.). For "to become deaf, to grow deaf," Old English had adeafian (intransitive), which survived into Middle English as deave but then took on a transitive sense from mid-14c. and sank from use except in dialects (where it mostly has transitive and figurative senses), leaving English without an intransitive verb here.
  • verb make deaf
Example sentences :
  • It was useless to struggle against it, and deafen my ears to the cry.
  • Extract from : « Child and Country » by Will Levington Comfort
  • "He yells loud enough to deafen a chanter," continued Gauchre.
  • Extract from : « Notre-Dame de Paris » by Victor Hugo
  • The eternal drumming in the streets is enough to deafen one for life.
  • Extract from : « Pilgrimage from the Alps to the Tiber » by James Aitken Wylie
  • It is to deafen, to keep down in some measure, the clamors of his bad conscience.
  • Extract from : « Public School Education » by Michael Mller
  • At dark, swarms fill our room, deafen our ears, and irritate our skin.
  • Extract from : « Mary and I » by Stephen Return Riggs
  • The noise of the discharge is an evil, it ought to be made to do work, not deafen.
  • Extract from : « The Modern Pistol and How to Shoot It » by Walter Winans
  • So as to deafen myself a little I do this: I drum on my ears.
  • Extract from : « Plays by Chekhov, Second Series » by Anton Chekhov
  • The roar of the surf, which had troubled him ever since his adventure, threatened to deafen him.
  • Extract from : « With Wolseley to Kumasi » by F.S. Brereton
  • The whistles of the police leaped through the air, but did not deafen the shouts.
  • Extract from : « Mother » by Maksim Gorky
  • Will you give me my cue—it is of no use to ask him when we are to deafen you.
  • Extract from : « The Daisy Chain » by Charlotte Yonge

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019