dull
verb
- to lose force, intensity, clearness
adjective
- being uninteresting
- not shiny
- not sharp
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /dʌl/ / /dʊl/ / /dul/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English dull, dul (also dyll, dill, dwal), from Old English dol (“dull, foolish, erring, heretical; foolish, silly; presumptuous”), from Proto-West Germanic *dol, from Proto-Germanic *dulaz, from earlier *dwulaz, a variant of *dwalaz (“stunned, mad, foolish, misled”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwel-, *dʰewel- (“to dim, dull, cloud, make obscure, swirl, whirl”). Cognate with Scots dull, doll (“slow to understand or hear, deaf, dull”), North Frisian dol (“rash, unthinking, giddy, flippant”), Dutch dol (“crazy, mad, insane”), Low German dul, dol (“mad, silly, stupid, fatuous”), German toll (“crazy, mad, wild, fantastic”), Danish dval (“foolish, absurd”), Icelandic dulur (“secretive, silent”), West-Flemish dul (angry, furious).
- Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.
“All these knives are dull.”
- Boring; not exciting or interesting.
“He sat through the dull lecture and barely stayed awake.”
“"You are very dull this morning, Sheriff," said the youngest daughter of the house, who, being the baby and pretty, had grown pettishly privileged in speech.”
- Not shiny; having a matte finish or no particular luster or brightness.
“Choose a dull finish to hide fingerprints.”
“a dull fire or lamp; a dull red or yellow; a dull mirror”
- Not bright or intelligent; stupid; having slow understanding.
“She is not bred so dull but she can learn.”
“dull at classical learning”
- Sluggish, listless.
“This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing.”
“O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue.”
- Bored, depressed, down.
“I felt dull all day.”
- Cloudy, overcast.
“It's a dull day.”
- Insensible; unfeeling.
“Think me not / So dull a devil to forget the loss / Of such a matchless wife.”
- Heavy; lifeless; inert.
“the dull earth”
“c. 1857', Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Table-Talk As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain.”
- Not intense; felt indistinctly or only slightly.
“Pressing on the bruise produces a dull pain.”
- Not clear, muffled. (of a noise or sound)
name
Etymology: Possibly from Pictish [Term?], cognate with Proto-Brythonic *dol (“meadow”).
- A village in Perth and Kinross council area, Scotland.
noun
Etymology: Probably from Irish dul, dol (“loop, noose, snare”).
- A noose of string, metal wire, or hair used to snare an animal, especially a fish.
“Play fair, boys. No dynamite nor "dulling." The deadly "dull," or wire noose, is a fatal weapon against a trout.”
“A horse with long, stiff hair in the tail was selected. […] a quick jerk … secured the material for a "dull." […] Then the "dull" was ready for use. […] the noose [was] slipped over the head to the gills and then with a quick jerk the sucker was dulled and pulled out of the water. Generally the dull held the fish and it was loosened and dropped on the bank but sometimes it was thrown out of the water but then slipped loose from the dull and fell on one of the banks or, worse luck, into the water. […]”
verb
Etymology: Probably from Irish dul, dol (“loop, noose, snare”).
- To fish (or snare an animal, especially a fish) with such a noose.
“I hope that the barbarous practice called dulling has gone out of fashion.”
“Play fair, boys. No dynamite nor "dulling." The deadly "dull," or wire noose, is a fatal weapon against a trout.”