Meaning

5 senses

  1. (transitive)To render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp.

    Years of misuse have dulled the tools.

    abstumpfen

    тупи́тьtupítʹ, иступи́тьistupítʹ, затупля́тьzatupljátʹ

    make dull or blunt

  2. (transitive)To soften, moderate or blunt; to make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy.

    He drinks to dull the pain.

    abstumpfen

    притупля́тьpritupljátʹ, притупи́тьpritupítʹ

    make dull in appearance

  3. (intransitive)To lose a sharp edge; to become dull.

    A razor will dull with use.

    abstumpfen

    затупля́тьсяzatupljátʹsja, затупи́тьсяzatupítʹsja

    become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness

  4. To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish.

  5. (Ireland, Southern US, archaic, obsolete)To fish (or snare an animal, especially a fish) with such a noose.

Examples

148 sentences

  1. I can't write with this dull pencil.

    Я не можу писати цим непідточеним олівцем. — deniko

    ruЯ не могу писать этим тупым карандашом. — afyodor

    deIch kann mit diesem stumpfen Bleistift nicht schreiben. — Tamy

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. The point of the pencil has become dull.

    Олівець затупився. — aandrusiak

    ruКарандаш затупился. — marafon

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. This knife is so dull that it can't cut.

    Цей ніж настільки тупий, що ним неможливо різати. — iceman

    ruЭтот нож такой тупой, что им нельзя резать. — Hellerick

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. The knife is dull.

    Ніж тупий. — deniko

    ruНож тупой. — Balamax

    deDas Messer ist stumpf. — Tamy

    marshmallowcat · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. This knife is dull.

    Цей ніж тупий. — deniko

    ruЭтот нож тупой. — Wezel

    deDieses Messer ist stumpf. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    Hybrid · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

7 languages
Русский
By meaning 3
to render dull:
to soften, moderate or blunt:
to become dull:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
to render dull:

Origin

From Middle English dull, dul (also dyll, dill, dwal), from Old English dol (“dull, foolis

From Middle English dull, dul (also dyll, dill, dwal), from Old English dol (“dull, foolish, erring, heretical; foolish, silly; presumptuous”), from Proto-West Germanic *dol, from Proto-Germanic *dulaz, from earlier *dwulaz, a variant of *dwalaz (“stunned, mad, foolish, misled”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwel-, *dʰewel- (“to dim, dull, cloud, make obscure, swirl, whirl”).

Probably from Irish dul, dol (“loop, noose, snare”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

dulls, dulling, dulled, dulled
Base formdull · to dull
3rd person singulardulls
Present participledulling
Past simpledulled
Past participledulled

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theydull
he, she, itdulls

Past simpleLesson

all personsdulled

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave dulled
he, she, ithas dulled

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill dull

Synonyms

10 synonyms
dullen
Close in meaning

Antonyms

1 antonyms
sharpen

Word family

3 related words
Relateddullard
Derivedundullableundulled

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
duhdukedulcimerdullarddulydumbB2

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

dull — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto