Deadening

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  deadening \dead"en*ing\ adj. [p. pr. of verb {deaden}[3].]
     Rendering less lively, intense, or vigorous; as, the
     deadening effect of some routine tasks.
     [WordNet 1.5]
  
     2. So lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; as,


        the deadening effect of some routine tasks.
  
     Syn: boring, dreary, ho-hum, irksome, tedious, tiresome,
          wearisome.
          [WordNet 1.5]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Deaden \Dead"en\ (d[e^]d"'n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Deadened}
     (d[e^]d"'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Deadening}.] [From {Dead}; cf.
     AS. d?dan to kill, put to death. See {Dead}, a.]
     1. To make as dead; to impair in vigor, force, activity, or
        sensation; to lessen the force or acuteness of; to blunt;
        as, to deaden the natural powers or feelings; to deaden a
        sound.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              As harper lays his open palm
              Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations.
                                                    --Longfellow.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To lessen the velocity or momentum of; to retard; as, to
        deaden a ship's headway.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To make vapid or spiritless; as, to deaden wine.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. To deprive of gloss or brilliancy; to obscure; as, to
        deaden gilding by a coat of size.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. To render impervious to sound, as a wall or floor; to
        deafen.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  deadening \dead"en*ing\ n.
     The act of making something futile and useless (as by
     routine).
  
     Syn: stultification, impairment.
          [WordNet 1.5]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  deadening
       adj : so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; "a
             boring evening with uninteresting people"; "the
             deadening effect of some routine tasks"; "a dull play";
             "his competent but dull performance"; "a ho-hum speaker
             who couldn't capture their attention"; "what an irksome
             task the writing of long letters is"- Edmund Burke;
             "tedious days on the train"; "the tiresome chirping of
             a cricket"- Mark Twain; "other people's dreams are
             dreadfully wearisome" [syn: {boring}, {dull}, {ho-hum},
              {irksome}, {slow}, {tedious}, {tiresome}, {wearisome}]
       n : the act of making something futile and useless (as by
           routine) [syn: {stultification}, {constipation}, {impairment}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  98 Moby Thesaurus words for "deadening":
     abatement, abating, allaying, allayment, alleviating, alleviation,
     alleviative, analgesia, analgesic, anesthesia, anesthetic,
     anesthetizing, anodyne, appeasement, assuagement, assuaging,
     assuasive, attenuation, attrition, balmy, balsamic, benumbing,
     blunting, calming, cathartic, chastening, cleansing, cushioning,
     dampening, damping, debilitation, demulcent, demulsion,
     devitalization, dilution, diminishing, diminishment, diminution,
     dulcification, dulling, ease, easement, easing, effemination,
     emollient, enervation, enfeeblement, evisceration, exhaustion,
     extenuation, falling-off, fatigue, hushing, inanition,
     languishment, leniency, lenitive, lessening, letdown, letup,
     lightening, loosening, lulling, mitigating, mitigation, mitigative,
     modulation, mollification, narcotic, numbing, pacification,
     pain-killing, palliation, palliative, purgative, quietening,
     quieting, reducing, reduction, relaxation, relaxing, relief,
     relieving, remedial, remedy, remission, salving, slackening,
     softening, soothing, stunning, stupefying, subduement, subduing,
     tempering, thinning, tranquilization, weakening