numb

Etymology

From the past participle of nim (“to take”). Compare German benommen (“dazed, numb”). The final ⟨b⟩ is a later addition to the spelling; it was never pronounced, and did not appear in the original word.

adj

1. Physically unable to feel, not having the power of sensation.
   fingers numb with cold
   legs numb from kneeling
2. Emotionally unable to feel or respond in a normal way.
   numb with shock; numb with boredom
   […] when we know that hundreds are rendered homeless every day, and countless thousands are killed and wounded, men and boys mowed down like a field of grain, and with as little compunction, we grow a little bit numb to human misery. 1915, Nellie McClung, chapter 2, in In Times Like These, Toronto: McLeod & Allen
   […] seeing the dog—somehow that made me feel again. I’d been too dazed, too numb, to feel the full viciousness of it. 1966, Truman Capote, In Cold Blood, New York: Modern Library, published 1992, Part One, p. 77
   […] he submitted […] as a traitor, his mind numb with vodka, submits to a firing squad. 2016, Julian Barnes, The Noise of Time, Random House Canada, Part Three
3. (obsolete) Causing numbness.

verb

1. (transitive) To cause to become numb (physically or emotionally).
   The dentist gave me novocaine to numb my tooth before drilling, thank goodness.
   When I first heard the news, I was numbed by the shock.
   But her main concern is the hard seating that numbs the nether regions. April 22 2020, “Letters: Open Access: Not easy for laptops”, in Rail, page 31
2. (transitive) To cause (a feeling) to be less intense.
   He turned to alcohol to numb his pain.
   [I was] thankful for the pain, which helped to numb my terror. 1861, Elizabeth Gaskell, “The Grey Woman”, in The Grey Woman and Other Tales, London: Smith, Elder & Co.
3. (transitive) To cause (the mind, faculties, etc.) to be less acute.
   […] hunger, fatigue, and despairing hopelessness had numbed his brain […] 1912, Saki, “The Hounds of Fate”, in The Chronicles of Clovis, London: John Lane, page 219
   The noise, the rush of air past our ears, was positively terrific. It actually seemed to numb the senses and make it almost impossible to take in impressions at all. 1927, Hugh Lofting, Doctor Dolittle’s Garden, Part Four, Chapter 6
   [The sofa] exhaled a breath of trapped ancient farts, barf-smell, and antiseptic, the parfum de asylum that gradually numbed my nose to all other scents on the ward. 2004, Cory Doctorow, chapter 13, in Eastern Standard Tribe
4. (intransitive) To become numb (especially physically).
   […] after fumbling with numbing fingers for ten or fifteen minutes, he waved his hand with a gesture of despair […] 1918, Lewis R. Freeman, “Wonders of the Teleferica”, in Many Fronts, London: John Murray, page 270
   […] once more his feet began to numb. Again he got down and stamped the circulation going, but as soon as he began to ride again they numbed. 1919, Arthur Murray Chisholm, chapter 18, in The Land of Strong Men, New York: H.K. Fly