deadendead‧en /ˈdedn/ verb [transitive] 
Verb Table Examples
medicine to deaden the pain
Verb TableVERB TABLE
deaden
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | deaden |
| he, she, it | deadens | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | deadened |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have deadened |
| he, she, it | has deadened | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had deadened |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will deaden |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have deadened |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am deadening |
| he, she, it | is deadening | |
| you, we, they | are deadening | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was deadening |
| you, we, they | were deadening | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been deadening |
| he, she, it | has been deadening | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been deadening |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be deadening |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been deadening |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- He drank alcohol to deaden the pain.
- Alcohol serves to deaden feelings which the individual can not manage, or wishes to avoid.
- Before that time, alcohol had been in general use to deaden pain, though some sturdy souls rejected it on principle.
- If he couldn't lose the feeling, perhaps he could deaden it.
- It would be spring soon, but I had been too deadened to notice.
- Repetition is considered to be deadening, boring, thoughtless.
- Soundposts are an important feature of bowed instruments but are unsuitable for plucked instruments and will deaden the sound of a dulcimer.
- When you listen to the radio, the music deadens your rhythm and causes you to create uniform sentences.
Longman Language Activatorto reduce pain, worry, or unpleasant feelings► reduce
Word family · They gave him drugs to reduce the pain.· Prompt action can often reduce the severity of shock in road accident victims.· Miriam finds that yoga and meditation help her in reducing stress.greatly/significantly/dramatically reduce · Stopping smoking can significantly reduce your risk of suffering a heart attack.
► lessen to slightly reduce pain or bad feelings: · He shifted his position a little, in order to lessen the pain in his leg.· Everyone has their own ideas about the best way to lessen jet lag.· Boys are more likely to smoke to relieve stress than girls are.
► lighten to reduce the amount of work or worry that someone has: lighten somebody's load/workload: · Maybe we should hire another secretary to lighten Barbara's workload.
► relieve to make pain or feelings less unpleasant: · Peppermint has long been regarded as a plant that can relieve indigestion.· Magnetic board games can help relieve the boredom of long car journeys for kids.· Harry attempted a couple of jokes to relieve the tension of the occasion.
► ease to reduce pain or unpleasant feelings and make someone feel happier or more comfortable: · Rod rubbed his jaw to ease the pain a little.· The arrival of the others eased her embarrassment slightly.
► alleviate formal to reduce pain, make a problem less serious, or reduce feelings such as being bored or anxious: · You can't cure a common cold, but you can alleviate the symptoms.· Western aid has helped to alleviate the situation in northern India.
► deaden/dull to reduce physical pain or emotional problems, especially with the result that you feel nothing at all: · They gave me a local anaesthetic to deaden the pain.· It was impossible not to think about her baby, but the drugs dulled her panic.
► take the edge off to make something such as pain, hunger, or a shock slightly less unpleasant or upsetting: · I took a couple of painkillers, which took the edge off the pain.· Knowing that Peter was close by took the edge off my anxiety for my grandson.
► allay: allay somebody's fears/concern/suspicions etc formal to make someone much less frightened, concerned etc: · The government is anxious to allay public fears over the safety of beef.· Showing her his identity card went some way towards allaying her suspicions.
WORD FAMILYnoundeaddeathdeadlinessadjectivedeaddeadlydeathlyadverbdeadlydeathlyverbdeaden
to make a feeling or sound less strong: medicine to deaden the pain