deafen

Etymology

deaf + -en (verbal suffix), compare Middle English deven, deaven (“to make deaf”), Old English ādēafian (“to deafen”), Dutch verdoven (“to stupefy, deafen”), German betäuben (“to stun, stupefy, deafen”).

verb

  1. (transitive) To make deaf, either temporarily or permanently.
  2. (transitive) To make soundproof.
    to deafen a wall or a floor
  3. (transitive, rare, dialectal, sometimes figurative) To stun, as with noise.
    1855, Macaulay Racine left the ground […] deafened, dazzled and tired to death.

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