Dumb \Dumb\, a. [AS. dumb; akin to D. dom stupid, dumb, Sw. dumb, Goth. dumbs; cf. Gr. ? blind. See Deaf, and cf. Dummy.]

1. Destitute of the power of speech; unable; to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes.

To unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures. --Hooker.

2. Not willing to speak; mute; silent; not speaking; not accompanied by words; as, dumb show.

This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him. --Shak.

To pierce into the dumb past. -- J. C. Shairp.

3. Lacking brightness or clearness, as a color. [R.]

Her stern was painted of a dumb white or dun color. --De Foe.

Deaf and dumb. See Deaf-mute.

Dumb ague, or Dumb chill, a form of intermittent fever which has no well-defined ``chill.'' [U.S.]

Dumb animal, any animal except man; -- usually restricted to a domestic quadruped; -- so called in contradistinction to man, who is a ``speaking animal.''

Dumb cake, a cake made in silence by girls on St. Mark's eve, with certain mystic ceremonies, to discover their future husbands. --Halliwell.

Dumb cane (Bot.), a west Indian plant of the Arum family (Dieffenbachia seguina), which, when chewed, causes the tongue to swell, and destroys temporarily the power of speech.

Dumb crambo. See under crambo.

Dumb show.
   (a) Formerly, a part of a dramatic representation, shown in pantomime. ``Inexplicable dumb shows and noise.'' --Shak.
   (b) Signs and gestures without words; as, to tell a story in dumb show.

To strike dumb, to confound; to astonish; to render silent by astonishment; or, it may be, to deprive of the power of speech.

Syn: Silent; speechless; noiseless. See Mute.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Deaf \Deaf\ (?; 277), a. [OE. def, deaf, deef, AS. de['a]f; akin to D. doof, G. taub, Icel. daufr, Dan. d["o]v, Sw. d["o]f, Goth. daubs, and prob. to E. dumb (the original sense being, dull as applied to one of the senses), and perh. to Gr. ? (for ?) blind, ? smoke, vapor, folly, and to G. toben to rage. Cf. Dumb.]

1. Wanting the sense of hearing, either wholly or in part; unable to perceive sounds; hard of hearing; as, a deaf man.

Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf. --Shak.

2. Unwilling to hear or listen; determinedly inattentive; regardless; not to be persuaded as to facts, argument, or exhortation; -- with to; as, deaf to reason.

O, that men's ears should be To counsel deaf, but not to flattery! --Shak.

3. Deprived of the power of hearing; deafened.

Deaf with the noise, I took my hasty flight. --Dryden.

4. Obscurely heard; stifled; deadened. [R.]

A deaf murmur through the squadron went. --Dryden.

5. Decayed; tasteless; dead; as, a deaf nut; deaf corn. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

--Halliwell.

If the season be unkindly and intemperate, they [peppers] will catch a blast; and then the seeds will be deaf, void, light, and naught. --Holland.

Deaf and dumb, without the sense of hearing or the faculty of speech. See Deaf-mute.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)