Numb.n.1
1. The Book of Numbers, a book of the Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures. Cf. number n. 13b.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > Testament > Old Testament > divisions of Old Testament > [noun] > Numbers
Numerya1382
numbers1488
Numb.1651
1651 T. Hobbes De Cive xvi We said..that where things could neither be divided, nor possess'd in common, they should be dispos'd by lot, which is confirmed as by the example of Moses, who by Gods command, Numb. 34. divided the severall parts of the land of promise unto the Tribes by Lot.
1656 J. Harrington Common-wealth of Oceana xx. 146 The Patriarchs or Princes of Families according as they declared their pedigrees, (Numb. 1. 18.) had the like right as to their Families.
1766 T. Amory Life John Buncle II. vii. 220 Again in Numb. xxiv. 17. we have the famous prophecy of Balaam: There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel.
1885 N. Amer. Rev. Aug. 188 Unlike the Roman husband, the Hebrew husband could not take the law into his own hands, when he suspected infidelity (Numb. v.) or inconstancy before marriage (Deut. xxii.).
1891 S. J. Andrews Life of Our Lord upon Earth v. 345 According to the law (Numb. xxix. 35), upon the eighth day a solemn assembly should be held and special sacrifices offered.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 720/1 The word is used in the Bible (Numb. xxiv. 6)..but it has been suggested that the LXX. reading in which the word does not occur is to be preferred.
1975 G. H. Parke-Taylor Yahweh i. 14 YHWH, in putting his name upon the people of Israel, blessed them (Numb. 6:27).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > [noun] > proportion or ratio
numbera1387
proportiona1387
compassc1400
quantity1556
proport1565
Numb.1653
scale1662
ratio1663
ration1728
1653 C. Bellingham Plat's Garden of Eden (new ed.) 50 See more of this in Numb. 30.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. ii. 20 The true square..as you were taught [in] Numb. I..is a great ornament.
1691 J. Dunton Voy. round World II. i. 18 I have a topping Example for the same, which to vindicate both my self and him, shall be here inserted, and therewith I intend to close this Chapter. [See New Observator, Vol. 2. Numb. 27.].
1700 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 22 677 I now send you, from Mr Thomus Luffkin of Colchester, a Draught..of the window in Colchester, (mentioned in the Transactions Numb. 255. for the month of Aug. 1699).
1710 London Gaz. No. 4668/4 Numb. 5. in Brick Court in the Middle Temple Lane.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. lxxviii. 355 She then gives the particulars of what passed between herself and Mr. Lovelace..pretty much to the same effect as in Mr. Lovelace's letter Numb. lxxii.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
numbadj.n.2
/nʌm/, U.S. /nəm/ A. adj.
1. † c. Helpless, incapable. Obsolete. rare.
a. Deprived of physical sensation or of the power of movement, esp. through extreme cold.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > [adjective] > rendered physically insensible
astonieda1375
benumba1400
numba1400
aclumsida1425
benumbed1547
numbed1553
astonished1576
astoned1578
brawned1582
soporiferous1599
cauterized1603
mortified1608
stupefied?1611
obtundeda1644
bedeaded1656
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > [adjective] > rendered physically insensible > by cold
clumsed1388
numba1400
afoundered?a1425
benumbed1547
numbed1553
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > [adjective] > affected with or having sensation of cold > numbed with cold
clumsed1388
numba1400
benumbed1547
numbed1553
clumsy1600
clumse1611
shrammed1874
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 13821 (MED) xxviij ȝere in bande I lay nomme baþ fote & hande.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 358 Nomyn [?a1475 Nommyn], or take wythe þe palsye, paraliticus.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 370 (MED) There chachid I the crumpe, yit held I my grounde halfe nome.
1551 W. Turner Herball (1568) i. 9 Leopardes bayne layd to a scorpione maketh hyr utterly amased and num.
1577–82 N. Breton Toys of Idle Head ix My harte it selfe, is bitten so with frost, That all my sences now are waxed nome.
1607 S. Rowlands Diogines Lanthorne sig. D2 I make them warme, That are both colde and numme.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §735 Leaning long upon any Part maketh it Numme, and as we call it, Asleep.
1693 J. Bancroft Henry II v. 50 My Limbs grow numb; I shiver with the cold, Cold touch of Death.
1738 H. Brooke tr. T. Tasso Jerusalem i. 44 Thus numn, and peaceful, lies some pois'nous snake, Chill'd in the Dropping of a wintry Brake.
1754 Pennsylvania Gaz. 12 Dec. It was near One a Clock in the Morning before they got him out of the Well, almost dead, one of his Legs especially exceeding numb.
1820 J. Keats Eve of St. Agnes in Lamia & Other Poems 83 Numb were the Beadsman's fingers, while he told His rosary.
1874 A. Trollope Phineas Redux II. xxiv. 195 He had become almost numb from the weariness of his position.
1919 P. G. Wodehouse Their Mutual Child ii. xiii. 258 Steve's faculties were rapidly becoming numb with approaching sleep.
1948 A. Paton Cry, Beloved Country iii. vii. 262 He..could hardly stand, for his feet were cold and numb.
1985 L. McMurtry Lonesome Dove (1986) xii. 133 When the bullet hit he felt a solid whack and then sort of went numb in the brain.
b. In extended use: as if deprived of physical sensation or the power of movement; (in later use) (chiefly) spec. emotionally deadened, unresponsive, or spent, as the result of grief, shock, fear, etc. rare before 19th cent.
ΚΠ
a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 61v That their feete: be feete without ioyntes, that is to say, not distinct by trew quantitie of sillabes: And so, soch feete, be but numme feete.
1610 Histrio-mastix i. 33 Musick shall feast the bounteous eares of Peace, Whil'st she inspires her numme conceipt with life.
1853 E. C. Gaskell Ruth III. i. 16 Frequently she was sullenly indifferent to the feelings of others—not from any unkindness, but because her heart seemed numb and stony, and incapable of sympathy.
c1865 E. Dickinson Poems (1955) II. 739 I've dropped my Brain—My Soul is numb.
1869 Speaker 7 Feb. 453/2 To foster that sense of history which is as active in that country as it is numb in our own.
1903 J. London Call of Wild iii. 84 The land numb and frozen under its pall of snow.
1958 Which? 1 ii. 25/2 The car's steering..was slightly ‘numb’, with undesirably little road feel.
1977 P. Roth Professor of Desire (1978) 219 I have no thoughts and no feelings, I am numb.
1991 Raritan Summer 13 Or can I coax from adamantine winter Pleasures as sharp as ice and steel are numb?
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > [adjective] > powerless or helpless
mightlessOE
powerlessc1425
impotent1444
mean1525
unpuissant1568
moyenless1599
aidless1608
impuissant1629
paralytic1642
adynamous1656
impotentiala1657
enervous1677
numb1802
fucked1949
dickless1957
1802 W. Paley Nat. Theol. xix. 367 A snail, as it should seem, is the most numb and unprovided of all artificers.
d. colloquial. Clumsy; stupid; mindless, unthinking. Cf. numbskull n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intellect > want of intellect > [adjective]
mindlessOE
brute1540
unintelligent1664
unintellectuala1676
numb1854
amental1877
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective]
sloweOE
stuntc960
dullOE
hardOE
stuntlyc1000
sotc1050
dillc1175
dulta1225
simplea1325
heavy1340
astonedc1374
sheepishc1380
dull-witteda1387
lourd1390
steerishc1411
ass-likea1425
brainless?a1439
deafc1440
sluggishc1450
short-witted1477
obtuse1509
peakish1519
wearish1519
deaf, or dumb as a beetle1520
doileda1522
gross1526
headlessa1530
stulty1532
ass-headed1533
pot-headed1533
stupid?1541
sheep's head1542
doltish1543
dumpish1545
assish1548
blockish1548
slow-witted1548
blockheaded1549
surd1551
dull-headed1552
hammer-headed1552
skit-brained?1553
buzzardly1561
witless1562
log-headeda1566
assy1566
sottish1566
dastardly1567
stupidious1567
beetle-headed1570
calvish1570
bluntish1578
cod's-headed1578
grout-headed1578
bedaft1579
dull-pated1580
blate1581
buzzard-like1581
long-eared1582
dullard1583
woodena1586
duncical1588
leaden-headed1589
buzzard1592
dorbellical1592
dunstical1592
heavy-headeda1593
shallow-brained1592
blunt-witted1594
mossy1597
Bœotian1598
clay-brained1598
fat1598
fat-witted1598
knotty-pated1598
stupidous1598
wit-lost1599
barren1600
duncifiedc1600
lourdish1600
stockish1600
thick1600
booby1603
leaden-pated1603
partless1603
thin-headed1603
leaden-skulledc1604
blockhead1606
frost-brained1606
ram-headed1608
beef-witted1609
insulse1609
leaden-spirited1609
asininec1610
clumse1611
blockheadly1612
wattle-headed1613
flata1616
logger-headeda1616
puppy-headeda1616
shallow-patedc1616
thick-brained1619
half-headed1621
buzzard-blinda1625
beef-brained1628
toom-headed1629
thick-witted1634
woollen-witted1635
squirrel-headed1637
clod-pated1639
lean-souled1639
muddy-headed1642
leaden-witteda1645
as sad as any mallet1645
under-headed1646
fat-headed1647
half-witted1647
insipid1651
insulsate1652
soft-headed1653
thick-skulleda1657
muddish1658
non-intelligent1659
whey-brained1660
sap-headed1665
timber-headed1666
leather-headeda1668
out of (one's) tree1669
boobily1673
thoughtless1673
lourdly1674
logger1675
unintelligenta1676
Bœotic1678
chicken-brained1678
under-witted1683
loggerhead1684
dunderheaded1692
unintelligible1694
buffle-headed1697
crassicc1700
numbskulled1707
crassous1708
doddy-polled1708
haggis-headed1715
niddy-noddy1722
muzzy1723
pudding-headed1726
sumphish1728
pitcher-souleda1739
duncey1743
hebete1743
chuckheaded1756
dumb1756
duncely1757
imbecile1766
mutton-headed1768
chuckle-headed1770
jobbernowl1770
dowfarta1774
boobyish1778
wittol1780
staumrel1787
opaquec1789
stoopid1791
mud-headed1793
borné1795
muzzy-headed1798
nog-headed1800
thick-headed1801
gypit1804
duncish1805
lightweight1809
numbskull1814
tup-headed1816
chuckle-pate1820
unintellectuala1821
dense1822
ninnyish1822
dunch1825
fozy1825
potato-headed1826
beef-headed1828
donkeyish1831
blockheadish1833
pinheaded1837
squirrel-minded1837
pumpkin-headed1838
tomfoolish1838
dundering1840
chicken-headed1842
like a bump on a log1842
ninny-minded1849
numbheadeda1852
nincompoopish1852
suet-brained1852
dolly1853
mullet-headed1853
sodden1853
fiddle-headed1854
numb1854
bovine1855
logy1859
crass1861
unsmart1861
off his chump1864
wooden-headed1865
stupe1866
lean-minded1867
duffing1869
cretinous1871
doddering1871
thick-head1873
doddling1874
stupido1879
boneheaded1883
woolly-headed1883
leaden-natured1889
suet-headed1890
sam-sodden1891
dopey1896
turnip-headed1898
bonehead1903
wool-witted1905
peanut-headed1906
peanut-brained1907
dilly1909
torpid-minded1909
retardate1912
nitwitted1917
meat-headed1918
mug1922
cloth-headed1925
loopy1925
nitwit1928
lame-brained1929
dead from the neck up1930
simpy1932
nail-headed1936
square-headed1936
dingbats1937
pinhead1939
dim-witted1940
pea-brained1942
clueless1943
lobotomized1943
retarded1949
pointy-headed1950
clottish1952
like a stunned mullet1953
silly (or crazy) as a two-bob watch1954
out to lunch1955
pin-brained1958
dozy1959
eejity1964
out of one's tiny mind1965
doofus1967
twitty1967
twittish1969
twatty1975
twattish1976
blur1977
dof1979
goofus1981
dickheaded1991
dickish1991
numpty1992
cockish1996
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > clumsy or awkward
stubblea1300
lubber?1515
awkward1530
unwieldy1530
lubberlike1572
unwieldsome1579
lubberly1580
looby1582
wieldy1588
clumsy1597
ungainly1611
unqueme1611
untowardly1611
clouter-likea1624
hip-shot1642
loobish1648
loobily1655
bumble-arsed1661
clouterly1675
lubbard1679
fumbling1681
sinistrousa1682
maladroit1685
shammockinga1704
ungain1710
splay-footed1716
gawky1759
hobbledehoyish1812
uncouthly1821
nunting1836
shammocky1841
numb1854
awkwardish1860
slummocky?1861
numb-footed1867
gawkish1876
flat-footed1899
brontosaurian1909
shamblya1937
slew-foot1945
ham-footed1960
klutzy1961
dorkus1979
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 66 Num, Numby, clumsy.
1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorks. Folk-talk 348 Aw dear! What a numb lahtle lad thoo is.
1954–60 Dict. Amer. Slang Numb,..stupid; inattentive.
1970 H. E. Roberts Third Ear 10/2 Numb, dumb; stupid.
1999 New Musical Express 30 Oct. 33/4 Likewise the numb art-disco wife-beating saga ‘Repetition’.
2. Of, relating to, or characteristic of numbness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > [adjective] > of the nature of numbness
numb1641
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 23 If to bring a num and chil stupidity of soul..be to keep away schisme, they keep away schisme indeed.
1836 W. Hamilton tr. A. F. Bernhardi in Edinb. Rev. Jan. 419 To induce that numb rigidity into our intellectual life.
1885 E. Douglas Queen of Hid Isle v. i. 107 I have long waited for deliverance In numb forgetfulness.
1901 ‘G. Douglas’ House with Green Shutters iv. 24 The preoccupation of her mournful gaze enabled her to meet her husband's sneers with a kind of numb unheeding acquiescence.
1980 W. Manchester Goodbye, Darkness 70 I slid back into the crater and lay there for a while in a numb stupor.
1990 Village Voice (N.Y.) 30 Jan. 34/1 If you pile on things like polyaddiction and double pneumonia, the sum total will not finish off as many of the kids..as their numb indifference to AIDS.
U.S. A spell of cold weather which numbs fish. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cold weather > [noun] > cold which numbs fish
numb1888
1888 N. E. Armstrong in G. B. Goode Amer. Fishes 119 When we have extremely cold and cloudy weather,..the Trout at the mouth of New River are benumbed... When these ‘numbs’ occur, it is generally known through this and the adjoining counties.
1888 N. E. Armstrong in G. B. Goode Amer. Fishes 119 There was a ‘numb’ in January, 1877, and another in the winter of 1879.
Compounds
C1. † numb-handed adj. Obsolete rare
numb-brained adj.
ΚΠ
1930 E. H. Lavine Third Degree 30 To gain..recruits from the numb-brained hanger-ons.
2001 Miami Herald (Nexis) 16 Nov. 1 b Florida voters were written off as numb-brained fools.
numb-footed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > clumsy or awkward
stubblea1300
lubber?1515
awkward1530
unwieldy1530
lubberlike1572
unwieldsome1579
lubberly1580
looby1582
wieldy1588
clumsy1597
ungainly1611
unqueme1611
untowardly1611
clouter-likea1624
hip-shot1642
loobish1648
loobily1655
bumble-arsed1661
clouterly1675
lubbard1679
fumbling1681
sinistrousa1682
maladroit1685
shammockinga1704
ungain1710
splay-footed1716
gawky1759
hobbledehoyish1812
uncouthly1821
nunting1836
shammocky1841
numb1854
awkwardish1860
slummocky?1861
numb-footed1867
gawkish1876
flat-footed1899
brontosaurian1909
shamblya1937
slew-foot1945
ham-footed1960
klutzy1961
dorkus1979
1867 T. Carlyle Reminisc. (1881) I. 272 A heavy, shortish numb-footed man.
1925 J. G. Neihardt Rubbed Out in Coll. Poems (1926) 508 And the Winter strode Numb-footed down that bloody stretch of road At twilight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > clumsy or awkward > clumsy with the hands
handless1483
left-handed1579
butterfingered1615
heavy-handeda1634
thumbless1648
unhandy1669
mutton-fisted1737
two-fisted1774
numb-handed1849
butterfingers1851
buttery-fingered1853
cack-handed1854
Marlborough-handed1893
thumb-fingered1903
thumby1909
ham-handed1918
ham-fisted1928
1849 R. S. Surtees Soapey Sponge's Sporting Tour xxv, in New Monthly Mag. Oct. 228 You scandalous, hypocritical, rusty-booted, numb-handed son of a puffing corn-cutter.
C2. † numb palsy n. Obsolete paralysis (cf. numbed palsy n. at numbed adj. Compounds).
numb-cold adj. poetic (now rare) so cold as to cause numbness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > [adjective] > rendering physically insensible
senseless1579
numbing1581
numb-cold1597
astonishing1617
benumbing1628
deading1647
bedeading1656
torporific1769
sopient1804
deadening1805
torpefying1822
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > [adjective] > very intensely cold
ice-coldeOE
frostyOE
frosty cold?a1430
frore1483
chill-cold1567
frory?1567
frostbiting1593
numb-cold1597
chilling-cold1616
frigidious1630
frigid1639
finger-cold1752
Siberian1789
freezy1827
ice-cool1853
Arctic1876
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III ii. i. 118 He..gaue himselfe All thin and naked to the numbcold night. View more context for this quotation
1605 Hist. Tryall Cheualry sig. E3 But death hath layd his num-cold hand vpon me.
1981 T. Hughes Coll. Animal Poems (1995) 55 The numb-cold current's brainwave is lightning—No good gasping ‘Look!’ It vanished as it struck.
numb eel n. now historical the electric eel, Electrophorus electricus (cf. numbing eel n. at numbing adj. Compounds, numbfish n.).
ΚΠ
1686 Hist. & Novels of late Ingenious Mrs. Behn 70 We had in that Country a very strange Fish, call'd a Numb Eel.
1925 E. D. Johnson Jrnl. Negro Hist. 10 336 Mrs. Behn speaks frequently of certain animals that infested Surinam, such as the torpedo or numb eel, tigers, armadillos, [etc.].
numb hand n. colloquial (now English regional) a clumsy or inexpert person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [noun] > clumsiness or awkwardness > person
numb hand1850
slummocker1880
1850 R. S. Surtees Soapey Sponge's Sporting Tour xxxviii, in New Monthly Mag. Mar. 376 The fact is, that ladies'-maids are only numb hands in all that relates to hunting.
1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. 359 Nobbut a numb hand.
1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 88/2 Nobbud a noom hand at t'job.
numbnuts n. colloquial (chiefly U.S.) a fool, an idiot; a useless or inadequate person.
ΚΠ
1970 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) 4 iii–iv. 21 Numb nuts, a fool.
1980 A. Maupin More Tales of City 151 Look, numbnuts! If you don't trust me, why don't you get another patsy.
1997 Spy (N.Y.) Dec. 53/3 Some National Guard numb-nuts might have fired a rocket.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > convulsive or paralytic disorders > [noun] > palsy or paralysis
palsyc1250
palsy pinec1390
paralysiea1425
paralysis1525
palsy-evil1532
pairls1621
numb palsy1642
numbed palsy1655
shrew-running1704
paralysation1846
palsification1866
shrew-stroke1872
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 35 What a numbe palsey, what a Laodicean temper..hath covered us over.
1772 Boston Gaz. 2 Mar. 3/1 Last Friday died very sudden of the Numb-Palsey, Mrs. Mary Sigourney.
1877 Scribner's Monthly Oct. 750 The victim of the ‘numb palsy’ had not only ceased to be a victim, but had secured the prize so fondly..coveted for Jenny.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
numbv.
/nʌm/, U.S. /nəm/ 1.
a. transitive. To make something numb; to deaden physical sensation or inhibit movement in. Also in extended use; spec. to cause (a person) to become emotionally deadened or unresponsive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > render physically insensible [verb (transitive)]
astone1340
dead1382
stony1382
dazea1400
astonish1530
benumb1530
mortifya1533
numb1561
dozen1576
pave1635
deaden1684
torpedoa1772
torpefy1808
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > make emotionally unfeeling [verb (transitive)] > deaden or dull the emotions
stupefy?a1425
dullc1440
benumbc1485
slumber?1533
extinguish1540
extinct1542
numb1561
damp1570
hebetate1574
daunt1581
frostbite1593
hebete1597
blunt1600
unedgea1625
engross1626
astonish1635
consopite1647
bate1649
opiate1650
blura1653
hebescate1657
torpefy1808
dozena1810
dullify1838
hebetize1845
chloroform1849
narcotize1852
sodden1863
vastate1892
the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > render miserable [verb (transitive)] > make numb with misery
numb1561
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer i. sig. A.iii The gout..in a short tyme so nummed hym of all hys members, that he coulde neyther stande on foote nor moue hymselfe.
1594 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis (new ed.) sig. Fiijv To surprise her hart, Who ouercome by doubt, and bloudlesse feare, With cold-pale weaknesse, nums ech feeling part.
1596 F. Sabie Adams Complaint sig. C3 How wittily shee laboreth in Sommer: Reposing food..Least barraine winters penurie should numb her.
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iv. iv. sig. H4 I will liue, Onely to numme some others cursed bloode, With the dead palsie of like misery.
1645 N. Drake Jrnl. Sieges Pontefract Castle (1861) 27 The bullitt grased upon Captin Fluddes legg, and numned it a little.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 61 Plough naked, Swain, and naked sow the Land, For lazy Winter numbs the lab'ring Hand. View more context for this quotation
1747 T. Gray Ode Eton Coll. 7 Lo, Poverty,..That numbs the Soul with icy Hand.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VI. 266 The people..perceived, that the torpedo had actually numbed the dead fishes into life again.
1790 M. O. Warren Sack of Rome II. iv. 36 Methinks I see her lovely tearful eye With scornful glances fir'd—till grief and fear, And consternation numb my torpid frame.
1813 W. Scott Rokeby iii. 133 A silent mood Hath numbed the current of his blood.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 413 Age numbs the sense of both worlds.
1905 F. Treves Other Side of Lantern (1906) iii. ix. 233 Noises which had already numbed us into deafness.
1915 W. Cather Song of Lark vi. x. 462 I don't mind nerves so much as getting numbed.
1942 E. Langley Pea Pickers xxviii. 388 The agony of my grief numbs me and makes me slow and stupid with tears.
1998 Daily Tel. 15 Apr. 20/1 Familiarity has never numbed me to the stew of corpses clogging the foreground of The Barque of Dante.
b. intransitive. To cause numbness. Also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1610 G. Markham Maister-peece ii. clxxiii. 487 Cicuta which wee call hemlocke..numbeth and astonieth.
1892 ‘Violet Fane’ Poems II. 79 Sad children, carolling in cold that numbs And hangs the icicles upon the spray.
a1932 C. J. Brennan Burden of Tyre (1953) I had flung my peace away, foolish, and changed for the dull woe that numbs and the rage that can but slay inwardly.
1962 Observer 28 Oct. 23/7 A retreat into daydream-fantasy that eventually either nauseates or numbs.
2. intransitive. To become numb. Also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1867 A. Webster Woman Sold & Other Poems 19 I thought my heart at least Had numbed to an unsinning deadness.
1876 J. B. L. Warren Soldier of Fortune iv. i. 281 The ear dulls, the hand numbs, the heart is clouded, but your pocket is perpetually alert.
a1909 G. Meredith Poet. Wks. (1919) 76 When the frost gleams and the blood numbs, And then, bonny Robin, I'll spread thee out crumbs In my garden porch.
1993 W. Baldwin Hard to catch Mercy iv. 123 The cold water stung like needles, but by the time I'd bogged to the first duck my calves had numbed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11651
adj.n.2a1400
v.1561