benumb

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be·numb

(bĭ-nŭm′)

tr.v. be·numbed, be·numb·ing, be·numbs

1. To make numb, especially by cold.

2. To render senseless or inactive, as from shock or boredom: The dull skit benumbed the audience.

[Middle English binomen, from past participle of binimen, to take away, from Old English beniman : be-, away; see be- + niman, to take; see numb.]

be·numb′ment n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

benumb

(bɪˈnʌm)

vb (tr)

1. to make numb or powerless; deaden physical feeling in, as by cold

2. (usually passive) to make inactive; stupefy (the mind, senses, will, etc)

beˈnumbingly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

be•numb

(bɪˈnʌm)

v.t.

1. to make numb; deprive of sensation: benumbed by cold.

2. to render inactive; stupefy.

[1350–1400; back formation from Middle English benomen, past participle of benimen to take away, Old English beniman; see be-, numb]

be•numb′ing•ly, adv.

benumb

Past participle: benumbed
Gerund: benumbing

Imperative
benumb
benumb

Present
I benumb
you benumb
he/she/it benumbs
we benumb
you benumb
they benumb

Preterite
I benumbed
you benumbed
he/she/it benumbed
we benumbed
you benumbed
they benumbed

Present Continuous
I am benumbing
you are benumbing
he/she/it is benumbing
we are benumbing
you are benumbing
they are benumbing

Present Perfect
I have benumbed
you have benumbed
he/she/it has benumbed
we have benumbed
you have benumbed
they have benumbed

Past Continuous
I was benumbing
you were benumbing
he/she/it was benumbing
we were benumbing
you were benumbing
they were benumbing

Past Perfect
I had benumbed
you had benumbed
he/she/it had benumbed
we had benumbed
you had benumbed
they had benumbed

Future
I will benumb
you will benumb
he/she/it will benumb
we will benumb
you will benumb
they will benumb

Future Perfect
I will have benumbed
you will have benumbed
he/she/it will have benumbed
we will have benumbed
you will have benumbed
they will have benumbed

Future Continuous
I will be benumbing
you will be benumbing
he/she/it will be benumbing
we will be benumbing
you will be benumbing
they will be benumbing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been benumbing
you have been benumbing
he/she/it has been benumbing
we have been benumbing
you have been benumbing
they have been benumbing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been benumbing
you will have been benumbing
he/she/it will have been benumbing
we will have been benumbing
you will have been benumbing
they will have been benumbing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been benumbing
you had been benumbing
he/she/it had been benumbing
we had been benumbing
you had been benumbing
they had been benumbing

Conditional
I would benumb
you would benumb
he/she/it would benumb
we would benumb
you would benumb
they would benumb

Past Conditional
I would have benumbed
you would have benumbed
he/she/it would have benumbed
we would have benumbed
you would have benumbed
they would have benumbed

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Verb

benumb - make numb or insensitive; "The shock numbed her senses"

numb, blunt, dull

desensitise, desensitize - cause not to be sensitive; "The war desensitized many soldiers"; "The photographic plate was desensitized"

benumb

verb

1. To render less sensitive:

blunt, deaden, desensitize, dull, numb.

Idiom: take the edge off.

2. To dull the senses, as with a heavy blow, a shock, or fatigue:

bedaze, bemuse, daze, stun, stupefy.

Chiefly Regional: maze.

3. To render helpless, as by emotion:

numb, paralyze, petrify, stun, stupefy, wither.

Translations

benumb

[bɪˈnʌm] VT (with cold) → entumecer; (= frighten, shock) → paralizar

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

benumb

limb → gefühllos machen; person → betäuben; (with cold also) → erstarren lassen; he was/his fingers were benumbed with cold → er war/seine Finger waren starr vor Kälte

(fig) mind → betäuben; (panic, experience etc) → lähmen; benumbed by alcohol → vom Alkohol benommen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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References in classic literature ?

There he sat quite benumbed and motionless; one would have imagined he was frozen to death.

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In the snowy wastes near the summit they came upon five bodies, lying upon their sides in a reposeful attitude which suggested that possibly they had fallen asleep there, while exhausted with fatigue and hunger and benumbed with cold, and never knew when death stole upon them.

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And now once more lieth the lead of his guilt upon him, and once more is his weak reason so benumbed, so paralysed, and so dull.

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Ah, my arms are really benumbed. I have been pressing my elbows on the arms of my chair, and dreaming that I was standing on the bridge in front of Dorlcote Mill, as it looked one February afternoon many years ago.

View in context

He heard no sound, for his normal faculties seemed benumbed.

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They were so chilled and benumbed by the cold, however, that they lost all heart, and absolutely refused.

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"Can something bad have happened to me?" he wondered as he got up: and at that moment he felt that something superfluous was hanging on his benumbed left arm.