DEADEN
deaden
(verb) convert (metallic mercury) into a grey powder consisting of minute globules, as by shaking with chalk or fatty oil
deaden, blunt
(verb) make less lively, intense, or vigorous; impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation; “Terror blunted her feelings”; “deaden a sound”
deaden
(verb) become lifeless, less lively, intense, or active; lose life, force, or vigor
dampen, deaden, damp
(verb) make vague or obscure or make (an image) less visible; “muffle the message”
deaden
(verb) lessen the momentum or velocity of; “deaden a ship’s headway”
deaden
(verb) make vapid or deprive of spirit; “deadened wine”
girdle, deaden
(verb) cut a girdle around so as to kill by interrupting the circulation of water and nutrients; “girdle the plant”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
deaden (third-person singular simple present deadens, present participle deadening, simple past and past participle deadened)
(transitive) To render less lively; to diminish; to muffle.
(intransitive) To become less lively; to diminish (by itself).
(transitive) To make soundproof.
Anagrams
• deaned
Source: Wiktionary
Dead"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deadened; p. pr. & vb. n. Deadening.]
Etym: [From Dead; cf. AS. d 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.
As harper lays his open palm Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations.
Longfellow.
2. To lessen the velocity or momentum of; to retard; as, to deaden a
ship's headway.
3. To make vapid or spiritless; as, to deaden wine.
4. To deprive of gloss or brilliancy; to obscure; as, to deaden
gilding by a coat of size.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition