Numb
/nʌm/
Definitions
2 meaningsDeprived of the power of feeling or movement; having no sensation.
/nʌm/
Lacking sensation
My fingers were numb from the cold.
💡 Simply: Imagine you hit your funny bone - that tingly, can't-feel-anything feeling? That's being numb! It's like when your hand falls asleep, or when you're so shocked you can't react.
👶 For kids: When something is numb, it means you can't feel it. Like when your arm falls asleep and you can't feel your fingers.
More Examples
After the injection, the area around the wound became numb.
She was numb with grief after the loss of her pet.
How It's Used
"The doctor said my hand was numb due to the nerve damage."
"She felt numb with shock after the news."
To make someone or a part of their body lose the ability to feel.
/nʌm/
To make or become numb
The cold water numbed his feet.
💡 Simply: If something numbs you, it's like pressing the pause button on your feelings or the ability to feel. For example, the cold weather might numb your toes so you don't feel them anymore.
👶 For kids: To numb means to stop feeling. Like when ice numbs your tongue.
More Examples
The loss numbed her to any further disappointment.
The pain medication helped to numb the area.
How It's Used
"The cold numbed his fingers."
"The tragedy numbed her ability to feel joy."
Idioms & expressions
numb with
To be so overcome by an emotion that one loses feeling or the ability to react.
"She was numb with fear."
go numb
To lose sensation or feeling.
"My fingers went numb in the cold."
From Middle English nommen, nummen, from Old English *nima, *nyman ('to seize, take'), related to the Proto-Germanic *nemaną ('to take'). The sense of 'to be deprived of feeling' developed later.
The word 'numb' has existed in the English language since the Middle Ages, originally denoting the loss of physical or emotional feeling.
Memory tip
Think of a number (numb) you can't feel. Like when your foot falls asleep.
Word Origin
"to seize, take"