deaf
see also: Deaf
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /dɛf/
  • (dated, regional US and England) IPA: /diːf/
Adjective

deaf (comparative deafer, superlative deafest)

  1. Unable to hear, or only partially able to hear.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Ivlivs Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene ii]:
      Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf.
    • Deaf with the noise, I took my hasty flight.
  2. Unwilling to listen or be persuaded; determinedly inattentive; regardless.
    Those people are deaf to reason.
    • c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene ii]:
      O, that men's ears should be / To counsel deaf, but not to flattery!
  3. Obscurely heard; stifled; deadened.
    • A deaf murmur through the squadron went.
  4. (obsolete, UK, dialect) Decayed; tasteless; dead.
    a deaf nut; deaf corn
    • If the season be unkindly and intemperate, they [peppers] will catch a blast; and then the seeds will be deaf, void, light, and naught.
Synonyms Translations Noun
  1. (with "the") Those who are deaf, taken as a group.
Translations
  • French: les sourds
  • German: die gehörlos, rare: die taub
  • Italian: i sordo, i non udente
  • Portuguese: surdos
  • Russian: глухой
  • Spanish: sordos, sordas
Noun

deaf (plural deafs)

  1. (nonstandard, rare) A deaf person.
Verb

deaf (deafs, present participle deafing; past and past participle deafed)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To deafen.

Deaf
Pronunciation Adjective

deaf (not comparable)

  1. Of or relating to the culture surrounding deaf users of sign languages.
    • 2005, Patricia Elizabeth Spencer and Marc Marschark, Advances in the Spoken Language Development of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195179870, page 3,
      Today, sign languages are the means of communication and interaction in Deaf communities around the world and have been shown to contain all the linguistic complexities and potentials of spoken languages (Stokoe, 1960/2005).
    • 2006, David Alan Stewart and Elizabeth Stewart, American Sign Language the Easy Way, Barron's Educational Series, ISBN 0764134280, page 101,
      There are Deaf clubs in many cities, but the clubs are just a part of the larger community of Deaf people.



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