Mute
[mjuːt] or [mjut]
Definition
(noun.) a device used to soften the tone of a musical instrument.
(noun.) a deaf person who is unable to speak.
(adj.) expressed without speech; 'a mute appeal'; 'a silent curse'; 'best grief is tongueless'- Emily Dickinson; 'the words stopped at her lips unsounded'; 'unspoken grief'; 'choking exasperation and wordless shame'- Thomas Wolfe .
Edited by Cary--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To cast off; to molt.
(v. t. & i.) To eject the contents of the bowels; -- said of birds.
(n.) The dung of birds.
(a.) Not speaking; uttering no sound; silent.
(a.) Incapable of speaking; dumb.
(a.) Not uttered; unpronounced; silent; also, produced by complete closure of the mouth organs which interrupt the passage of breath; -- said of certain letters. See 5th Mute, 2.
(a.) Not giving a ringing sound when struck; -- said of a metal.
(n.) One who does not speak, whether from physical inability, unwillingness, or other cause.
(n.) One who, from deafness, either congenital or from early life, is unable to use articulate language; a deaf-mute.
(n.) A person employed by undertakers at a funeral.
(n.) A person whose part in a play does not require him to speak.
(n.) Among the Turks, an officer or attendant who is selected for his place because he can not speak.
(n.) A letter which represents no sound; a silent letter; also, a close articulation; an element of speech formed by a position of the mouth organs which stops the passage of the breath; as, p, b, d, k, t.
(n.) A little utensil made of brass, ivory, or other material, so formed that it can be fixed in an erect position on the bridge of a violin, or similar instrument, in order to deaden or soften the tone.
Editor: Xenia
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Dumb, unable to speak, incapable of speech.[2]. Silent, speechless, taciturn, mum.
Typist: Naomi
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Silent, speechless, dumb, taciturn, voiceless, still, death-like
ANT:Chattering, talkative, garrulous, loquacious, vocal, tuneful, loud
Editor: Sidney
Definition
adj. incapable of speaking: dumb: silent: unpronounced.—n. one dumb or remaining silent: a person stationed by undertakers at the door of a house at a funeral: a stopped sound formed by the shutting of the mouth-organs esp. the surds t p k but also applied to the sonant or voiced consonants d b g and even the nasals n m ng: (law) one who refuses to plead.—v.t. to deaden sound.—adv. Mute′ly.—n. Mute′ness.
v.i. to dung as birds.
Editor: Seth
Unserious Contents or Definition
To converse with a mute in your dreams, foretells that unusual crosses in your life will fit you for higher positions, which will be tendered you. To dream that you are a mute, portends calamities and unjust persecution.
Typist: Marietta
Examples
- I wish you, ma'am, good night, said she to Mrs. Bretton; but she passed me mute. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- As to Paulina, the child was at once happy and mute, busy and watchful. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Gerald's father had looked wistful, to break the heart: but not this last terrible look of cold, mute Matter. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- There were many mute Marco Polos who never met their Rusticianos, and history has not preserved their names. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Dreadful question: there was no one here to answer it--not even dumb sign, mute token. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- We don't know,' said Mr. Tupman, answering this mute appeal aloud. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- I could not, and would not, sit silent with all that beauty modestly mute in my presence. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The new arrival was the Emperor Dom Pedro of Brazil, who had once visited Bell’s school for deaf-mutes in Boston. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- His father was a teacher of vocal physiology at Edinburgh, and he himself became a teacher of deaf mutes. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Some people ought to have mutes for servants in Vanity Fair--mutes who could not write. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- He had already had very considerable success in teaching deaf-mutes to talk by visible speech, or sign-language, and this success was repeated in Canada. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- But his factory is a secret place, his work is noiseless, and his Hands are mutes. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Bell had presented his stock in the company to his wife on their wedding-day, and he now took up afresh the work of his boyhood and youth, the teaching of deaf-mutes. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Birkin, who looked muted, unreal, his presence left out, introduced her as Miss Darrington. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- It came faint, muted, dry and far away. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
Checker: Sondra