Dumb crambo

Dumb crambo
Dumb Dumb, a. [AS. dumb; akin to D. dom stupid, dumb, Sw. dumb, Goth. dumbs; cf. Gr. ? blind. See {Deaf}, and cf. {Dummy}.] 1. Destitute of the power of speech; unable; to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes. [1913 Webster]

To unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures. --Hooker. [1913 Webster]

2. Not willing to speak; mute; silent; not speaking; not accompanied by words; as, dumb show. [1913 Webster]

This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

To pierce into the dumb past. -- J. C. Shairp. [1913 Webster]

3. Lacking brightness or clearness, as a color. [R.] [1913 Webster]

Her stern was painted of a dumb white or dun color. --De Foe. [1913 Webster]

{Deaf and dumb}. See {Deaf-mute}.

{Dumb ague}, or {Dumb chill}, a form of intermittent fever which has no well-defined ``chill.'' [U.S.]

{Dumb animal}, any animal except man; -- usually restricted to a domestic quadruped; -- so called in contradistinction to man, who is a ``speaking animal.''

{Dumb cake}, a cake made in silence by girls on St. Mark's eve, with certain mystic ceremonies, to discover their future husbands. --Halliwell.

{Dumb cane} (Bot.), a west Indian plant of the Arum family ({Dieffenbachia seguina}), which, when chewed, causes the tongue to swell, and destroys temporarily the power of speech.

{Dumb crambo}. See under {crambo}.

{Dumb show}. (a) Formerly, a part of a dramatic representation, shown in pantomime. ``Inexplicable dumb shows and noise.'' --Shak. (b) Signs and gestures without words; as, to tell a story in dumb show.

{To strike dumb}, to confound; to astonish; to render silent by astonishment; or, it may be, to deprive of the power of speech.

Syn: Silent; speechless; noiseless. See {Mute}. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Dumb crambo — Crambo Cram bo ( b[ o]), n. [Cf. {Cramp}, a., difficult.] 1. A game in which one person gives a word, to which another finds a rhyme. [1913 Webster] I saw in one corner . . . a cluster of men and women, diverting themselves with a game at crambo …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • dumb crambo — noun A guessing game, similar to charades, in which players act out, or silently pantomime, words that rhyme with a clue word. The objective is to guess a concealed word that rhymes with the clue …   Wiktionary

  • dumb crambo — noun : a game in which one team chooses a word to be guessed and gives a rhyming word as a clue to the other team which then pantomimes it s guess as to the original word …   Useful english dictionary

  • Crambo — is an old rhyming game which, according to Strutt,[1] was played as early as the fourteenth century under the name of the ABC of Aristotle. It is also known as Capping the rhyme. The name may also be used to describe a doggerel poem which… …   Wikipedia

  • Dumb — Dumb, a. [AS. dumb; akin to D. dom stupid, dumb, Sw. dumb, Goth. dumbs; cf. Gr. ? blind. See {Deaf}, and cf. {Dummy}.] 1. Destitute of the power of speech; unable; to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes. [1913 Webster] To unloose the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Dumb ague — Dumb Dumb, a. [AS. dumb; akin to D. dom stupid, dumb, Sw. dumb, Goth. dumbs; cf. Gr. ? blind. See {Deaf}, and cf. {Dummy}.] 1. Destitute of the power of speech; unable; to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes. [1913 Webster] To unloose… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Dumb animal — Dumb Dumb, a. [AS. dumb; akin to D. dom stupid, dumb, Sw. dumb, Goth. dumbs; cf. Gr. ? blind. See {Deaf}, and cf. {Dummy}.] 1. Destitute of the power of speech; unable; to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes. [1913 Webster] To unloose… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Dumb cake — Dumb Dumb, a. [AS. dumb; akin to D. dom stupid, dumb, Sw. dumb, Goth. dumbs; cf. Gr. ? blind. See {Deaf}, and cf. {Dummy}.] 1. Destitute of the power of speech; unable; to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes. [1913 Webster] To unloose… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Dumb cane — Dumb Dumb, a. [AS. dumb; akin to D. dom stupid, dumb, Sw. dumb, Goth. dumbs; cf. Gr. ? blind. See {Deaf}, and cf. {Dummy}.] 1. Destitute of the power of speech; unable; to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes. [1913 Webster] To unloose… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Dumb chill — Dumb Dumb, a. [AS. dumb; akin to D. dom stupid, dumb, Sw. dumb, Goth. dumbs; cf. Gr. ? blind. See {Deaf}, and cf. {Dummy}.] 1. Destitute of the power of speech; unable; to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes. [1913 Webster] To unloose… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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