dull

1. 1

   Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.

   • All these knives are dull.
2. 2

   Boring; not exciting or interesting.

   • He sat through the dull lecture and barely stayed awake.
3. 3

   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
4. 4

   Not bright or intelligent; stupid; having slow understanding.

   • She is not bred so dull but she can learn.
   • dull at classical learning
5. 5

   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.
6. 6

   Bored, depressed, down.

   • I felt dull all day.
7. 7

   Cloudy, overcast.

   • It's a dull day.
8. 8

   Insensible; unfeeling.

   • Think me not / So dull a devil to forget the loss / Of such a matchless wife.
9. 9

   Heavy; lifeless; inert.

   • c. 1857', Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Table-Talk As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain.
10. 10

    Not intense; felt indistinctly or only slightly.

    • Pressing on the bruise produces a dull pain.

1. 1

   To render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp.transitive

   • Years of misuse have dulled the tools.
2. 2

   To soften, moderate or blunt; to make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy.transitive

   • He drinks to dull the pain.
3. 3

   To lose a sharp edge; to become dull.intransitive

   • A razor will dull with use.
4. 4

   To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish.

syn. dullen

1. 1

   A noose of string, metal wire, or hair used to snare an animal, especially a fish.IrelandSouthern-USarchaic

   • Play fair, boys. No dynamite nor "dulling." The deadly "dull," or wire noose, is a fatal weapon against a trout.

1. 1

   To fish (or snare an animal, especially a fish) with such a noose.IrelandSouthern-USarchaic

   • 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.