DUMB

Dumb. Dumb
From natural infirmity (Ex. 4:11); not knowing what to say (Prov. 31:8); unwillingness to speak (Ps. 39:9; Lev. 10:3). Christ repeatedly restored the dumb (Matt. 9:32, 33; Luke 11:14; Matt. 12:22) to the use of speech.

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dumb. Dumb, a. unable to speak, speechless, silent, mute

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Dumb (?), a. [[AS. dumb; akin to D. dom stupid, dumb, Sw. dumb, Goth. dumbs; cf. Gr. � blind. See Deaf, and cf. Dummy.]] 1. 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. 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. 3. Lacking brightness or clearness, as a color.
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.” — 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.