| 释义 |
▪ I. deaf, a.|dɛf|
Forms: 1–3 deaf, Orm. dæf, (2–3 pl. deaue), 3–6 def, (3–5 pl. deue, 4 Ayenb. dyaf, dyaue, dyeaue), 4–5 deef(f, (pl. deeue), 4–6 defe, (deff(e, 5 deif, deyf(fe), 6 deefe, deaffe, (Sc. deif(f), 6–7 deafe, 7– deaf.
[c gray][A Common Teutonic adj.: OE. déaf = OFris. dâf (WFris. doaf), OS. dôf (MDu., Du., MLG. doof (v), LG. dôf), OHG. toup (b), (MHG. toup, Ger. taub), ON. daufr (Sw. döf, Da. döv), Goth. daufs (b) :—OTeut. *dauƀ-oz, from an ablaut stem deuƀ-, dauƀ-, duƀ, pre-Teut. dheubh-, to be dull or obtuse of perception: cf. Goth. afdaubnan to grow dull or obtuse, also Gr. τυϕλός (:—θυϕ-) blind. The original diphthong remains in north. dial.; in standard Eng. the vowel was long until the modern period, and so late as 1717–8 it was rimed with relief by Prior and Watts; the pronunciation (diːf[/c]) is still widely diffused dialectally, and in the United States.
In many Eng. dialects the ea is still diphthongal, deeaf]
1. a. Lacking, or defective in, the sense of hearing.
c825Vesp. Psalter xxxvii[i]. 14 Swe swe deaf ic ne ᵹe[herde]. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 129 Alse to deue men. c1200Ormin 15500 Dumbe menn & dæfe. a1225St. Marher. 20 Noðer dumbe ne deaf. c1386Chaucer Prol. 446 But she was somdel deef [v.r. def, defe] and þat was scathe. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. clxxxviii. (1495) 729 Vynegre helpith deyf eeres. c1440Promp. Parv. 115 Deffe, surdus. 1538Starkey England 212 As you wold tel a tale to a deffe man. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 213 Come on my right hand, for this eare is deafe. 1717Prior Alma ii. 366 Till death shall bring the kind relief, We must be patient, or be deaf. 1718Watts Ps. cxxxv. 7 Blind are their eyes, their ears are deaf [rime relief]. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xxxv, You know our good Lady Suffolk is a little deaf. 1871B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. i. i. 5 In the rocks beneath the leaf, If it strikes you, you are deaf.
b. absol., esp. in pl. the deaf, deaf people.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xi. 5 Blinde ᵹeseoþ..deafe ᵹehyraþ. c1200Vices & Virtues (1888) 75 Þe blinde, ðe dumbe, ðe deaue, ðe halte. a1300Cursor M. 13107 (Cott.) Þe def has hering, blind has sight. 1611Bible Isa. xxxv. 5 Then..the eares of the deafe shalbe vnstopped. 1855Browning Master Hugues xxvi, Who thinks Hugues wrote for the deaf?..try again; what's the clef?
c. fig. said of things.
a1000Juliana 150 Þæt ic..dumbum and deafum deofolᵹieldum..gaful onhate. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. i. 81 Infected mindes To their deafe pillowes will discharge their secrets. 1821Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 29 Have its deaf waves not heard my agony?
d. Proverbial phrases. as deaf as an adder or a post (formerly and still dialectally as deaf as a door, door-post, door-nail, etc.); none so deaf as those who won't hear. (Deafness is attributed in the Bible, Ps. lviii. 5, to the adder (= pethen the asp); cf. the name deaf-adder in 7.)
[a1400–50Alexander 4747 Dom as a dore-nayle & defe was he bathe.] 1551Crowley Pleas. & Pain 93 Ye deafe dorepostis, coulde ye not heare? 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 143 Who is so deafe, as he that will not heare. 1606Breton Mis. Mavillia Wks. (Grosart) 49 (D.) He is as deafe as a doore. 1611Cotgr., Sourd comme vn tapis, as deafe as a doore-nayle (say we). a1693Urquhart Rabelais iii. xxxiv, He was as deaf as a Door-nail. 1824Bentham Bk. of Fallacies Wks. 1843 II. 412 None are so completely deaf as those who will not hear. a1845Hood Tale of Trumpet iv, She was deaf as a post..And as deaf as twenty similes more, Including the adder, that deafest of snakes. [c825Vesp. Ps. lvii. 4 (5) Swe nedran deafe. 1535Coverd. ibid., Like the deaf Adder that stoppeth hir eares.] e. deaf and dumb: also used absol. (= deaf-mute) and thence attrib., as ‘a deaf-and-dumb alphabet’.
a1225Ancr. R. 108 Ich heold me al stille..ase dumbe & deaf deð þet naueð non onswere. c1400Destr. Troy 4281 Þof it defe were & doumbe, dede as a ston. 1625Sir J. Stradling Divine Poems iii. xlvi. 96 The deaf-and-dumbe he made to heare and speake. 1669Holder Elem. Speech App. 114 Now as to the most general case of those who are deaf and dumb, I say they are dumb by consequence from their deafness. 1774Johnson West. Isl. Wks. X. 520 There is..in Edinburgh..a college of the deaf and dumb. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. ii. 17 The real deaf-and-dumb language of signs.
f. In restricted sense: Insensible to certain kinds of sounds, musical rhythm, etc.
1784Cowper Task vi. 646 Deaf as the dead to harmony. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxiii. 167 A world of sounds to which I had been before quite deaf. 1870Lowell Study Wind. (1886) 241 His remarks upon versification are..instructive to whoever is not rhythm-deaf.
2. fig. Not giving ear; unwilling to hear or heed, inattentive. Const. to († at). Phrase. to turn a deaf ear (to).
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7220 Hii beþ deue & blinde iwys, þat hii noileþ non god þyng yhure ne yse. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xii. 61 For god is def now a dayes and deyneþ nouht ous to huyre. c1440Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) ii. xxii, Make deef ere to hem as though þou herde hem not. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. iii. 30 Mankinde was in a manner deaffe at the law of nature. 1607Shakes. Timon i. ii. 257 Oh that mens eares should be To Counsell deafe, but not to Flatterie. 1655Jennings Elise 100 The reason that hath caused..your pitty to be deaf at my prayers. 1700–11Swift Jrnl. Stella 7 Feb., I was deaf to all intreaties. c1780Burns Duncan Gray, Duncan fleech'd and Duncan pray'd; Meg was deaf as Ailsa Craig. 1838Thirlwall Greece II. xiii. 167 They were deaf to his summons. 1887R. N. Carey Uncle Max xxvi. 207, I prudently turned a deaf ear to this question.
†3. Dull, stupid; absurd. Obs.
c1440Promp. Parv. 116 Deffe, or dulle (K. defte, H.P. deft), obtusus, agrestis. 1482in Eng. Gilds (1870) 315 Tailors', Exeter, Callenge hym knaffe, or horson, or deffe, or any yoder mysname. 1541R. Copland Galyen's Terapeutyke 2 B iv b, Otherwyse it shulde be a deafe thynge that y⊇ thynge whiche is no more beynge shulde requyre curacyon.
†4. Numb, without sensation. Obs. rare.
15..L. Andrew Noble Lyfe iii. xcii. in Babees Bk. 239 Torpido is a fisshe, but who-so handeleth hym shalbe lame & defe of lymmes, that he shall fele no thyng.
†5. Of sounds: So dull as to be hardly or indistinctly heard; muffled. Obs. [Cf. F. bruit sourd.]
1612Shelton Quix. I. iii. vi. 156 The deaf and confused Trembling of these Trees. 1647W. Browne Polex. ii. 106 Assoone as Almanzor had made an end, there was a deafe noise among all the assembly. 1700Dryden Fables, Meleager & Atal. 221 A deaf murmur through the squadron went. ― Ovid's Met. xii. 72 Nor silence is within, nor voice express, But a deaf noise of sounds that never cease.
6. a. Lacking its essential character or quality; hollow, empty, barren, unproductive; insipid. Cf. deaf nettle in 7. Now chiefly dial.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. lii. 411 Unᵹefynde corn..oððe deaf. 14..Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 718/36 Hee sunt partes fructuum..Hoc nauci..defe. 1552Huloet, Deaffe or doted, as that whyche hath no sauoure, surdus. 1633D. Rogers Treat. Sacraments i. 189 Tremble yow for your sitting so long upon the divels deafe egges. 1788Marshall Yorksh. Gloss., Deaf, blasted, or barren; as a deaf ear of corn, or a deaf nut. 1878Cumbrld. Gloss., Deef, Deeaf..Applied to corn, it means light grain; and to land, weak and unproductive. 1883Standard 27 Aug. 6/4 The grain is bulky, the ears are large..although a few here and there are ‘deaf’. 1888W. Somerset Word-bk., Deaf..applied to any kind of fruit or seed enclosed in a shell or husk, which when opened is barren.
b. deaf nut: one with no kernel; used fig. for something hollow, worthless, or unsubstantial.
1613Bp. Hall Serm. 1 Sam. xii. 24 He is but a deaf nut therefore, that hath outward service without inward fear. 1637Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 331, I live upon no deaf nuts, as we use to speak. 1788[see prec.]. 1808Scott Let. to C. K. Sharpe 30 Dec. in Lockhart, The appointments..are {pstlg}300 a year—no deaf nuts. 1858De Quincey Autobiog. Sk. Wks. I. 88 A blank day, yielding absolutely nothing—what children call a deaf nut, offering no kernel.
†c. deaf arch = blind arch. Obs. rare.
1815Ann. Reg. Chron. 43 In one of the deaf Arches, immediately adjoining the middle arch of the bridge.
7. Comb., etc., as deaf-eared, † deaf-minded adjs.; deaf-adder [cf. 1 d], a local name in England for the slow-worm or blind-worm, in U.S. for certain snakes supposed to be venomous; deaf-aid, a hearing aid; deaf-dumb = deaf-mute; deaf-dumbness, dumbness or aphonia arising from deafness; deaf-ear, (a) = auricle 3; † (b) a cotyledon or seed-leaf of some plants; (c) the ear-lobe of the domestic fowl; deaf-nettle = dead-nettle.
1806Polwhele Hist. Cornwall VII. 120 We have a kind of viper which we call the long-cripple: it is the slow-worm or *deaf-adder of authors. 1860Bartlett Dict. Amer., Blauser, the name given by the Dutch settlers to the hog-nosed snake..Other popular names in New York are Deaf-Adder and Buckwheat-nosed Adder.
1934Discovery Nov. 324/2 The combined radio-gramophone and *deaf-aid. 1939Nature 15 Apr. 633/1 An efficient type of deaf-aid is operated by a pick-up coil, in which are induced currents from an energized cable hung round the auditorium or placed under the carpet.
1834Good Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 423 A *deaf-dumb boy. Ibid. 421 The extent of Knowledge..which the deaf-dumb have occasionally exhibited.
Ibid. 418 Aphonia Surdorum, *Deaf-dumbness. 1883B. W. Richardson Field of Disease vi. 262 Deafness, resulting..from actual disease, or from deaf-dumbness.
1615Crooke Body of Man 374 At the Basis of the heart on either side hangeth an appendixe..which is called the Eare, not from any profite, action or vse it hath sayeth Galen..and therefore wee in English call it commonly the *deafe-eare, but for the similitude. Ibid. 375 The hollow veine..is receiued by the right deafe-eare. 1725Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Melon, The two first leaves, which are call'd the Deaf Ears of the plant, will twirl or coffer. 1796H. Glasse Cookery v. 68 Wash a large beast's heart clean, and cut off the deaf-ears. 1854Poultry Chron. I. 225 The cock..should have large wattles, and a clear white *deaf-ear. 1855Ibid. III. 443 The importance of white deaf-ears seems however to have been overlooked by some of the competitors. 1877N. W. Linc. Gloss., Dëaf-ears, the auricles of the heart.
1565Golding Ovid's Met. ix. (1593) 229 And words of comfort to her *deafeard mind they spake.
1581Marbeck Bk. of Notes 149 These which are dumme and are *deafe minded.
c1440Promp. Parv. 116 *Deffe nettylle, arch-angelus. 1599A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 201/1 Deafe Nettles. 1877N.W. Linc. Gloss., Dëaf-nettle, the stingless nettle.
▪ II. deaf, v. arch. or dial.|dɛf|
Forms: 5 deffe, 6 Sc. deif(f, 6–7 deeff(e, deafe, deaff, 7– deaf.
[f. deaf a.; or an assimilation of the earlier deave v. to the form of the adj.]
†1. intr. To become deaf. Obs. rare.
1530Palsgr. 509/2 I deefe, I begyn to wante my hearing.
2. trans. To make deaf, to deafen.
c1460Towneley Myst. 314 Then deffes hym with dyn the bellys of the kyrke When thai clatter. 1530Palsgr. 509/2 Thou deeffest me with thy kryeng so loude. 1595Shakes. John ii. i. 147 What cracker is this same that deafes our eares With this abundance of superfluous breath? 1697Dryden æneid vii. 130 A swarm of thin aërial shapes appears, And, flutt'ring round his temples, deafs his ears. 1728Vanbr. & Cib. Prov. Husb. ii. i, Lord! this Boy is enough to deaf People. 1877Holderness Gloss., Deeaf, to deafen with noise.
b. fig. and transf.
1596Lodge Marg. Amer. 7 Then marched forth ech squadron, deaffing the aire with their cries. 1615T. Adams Blacke Devill 13 Yet still [he] deafes himselfe to the cry of his owne conscience. 1637Nabbes Microcosm. in Dodsley IX. 127 If she urge Those accusations, deaf thy understanding To her suggestions. 1821Byron Heav. & Earth iii. 283 No more..Than their last cries shall shake the Almighty purpose, Or deaf obedient ocean, which fulfils it.
3. To drown (a sound) with a louder sound.
1640G. Abbott Job Paraphr. xxxix. 251 Deafing their noise..with his loud and daring neighings. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 95 The birds..Were often deaf'd to silence with her song.
Hence ˈdeafing vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1612Two Noble Kinsm. v. iii. 9 Gainst the which there is No deafing but to hear. 1647H. More Poems, Oracle 39 The deafing surges, that with rage do boyl. |