释义 |
muteness|ˈmjuːtnɪs| [-ness.] The quality or condition of being mute or silent.
1590H. Barrow in Confer. iii. 65 Here Mr. Cooper was smitten with mutenes. 1643Milton Divorce i. iii. 8 The bashful mutenes of a virgin. 1821Lamb Elia Ser. i. Quakers' Meeting. What is the stillness of the desert, compared with this place? What the uncommunicating muteness of fishes? 1852Seidel Organ 138 If the foot of a wood pipe be very badly worm-eaten,..muteness of the pipe will be the consequence. 1898Atlantic Monthly LXXXII. 480/1 Terror and absolute muteness reign in the house. b. Said of hounds: The habit of being ‘tongueless’ when the occasion requires ‘cries’.
1881Encycl. Brit. XII. 315/2 Lastly, they must be free from certain faults, such as muteness, babbling, and skirting. |