mute

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++

Related topics: Illness & disability

mute1 /mjuːt/ adjective  1  TALK TO SB# written someone who is mute does not speak, or refuses to speak 缄默的 SYN silent Billy continued to stand there, mute and defiant. 比利还是站在那儿一声不吭，一副不服气的样子。2. old-fashionedMI someone who is mute is unable to speak 不会说话的，哑的 —mutely adverb

Examples from the Corpus

mute• I must scream, I have to, yet I too am mute.• I thought it prudent at this point to remain mute.• They stood their ground, mute and attentive, though they came no nearer.• Jean-Claude returned from Paris mute and exhausted, as if under a spell.• The trial brings out many spectators to see Hetty standing mute and expressionless.• A stroke left her mute and unable to use her legs.• The sky has evolved into a mute deep blue, huge and high.• a mute "e"• Claudia raised the bottle of shampoo in mute enquiry.• The kid stared at me in a state of mute fear.• His mouth opened in mute protest at this perversion of the proper order of affairs.

Related topics: Colours & sounds, Music

mute2 verb [transitive]  1  CQUIET formal to make the sound of something quieter, or make it disappear completely 减弱…的声音；消除…的声音 Excess noise can be reduced by muting alarms and telephones. 减弱警报声和电话声可以降低过度的噪音。2. APMto make a musical instrument sound softer 使〔乐器〕听起来柔和，使〔乐器声音〕弱化3  formal to reduce the level of criticism, protest, discussion etc that is happening 减弱，缓和〔批评、抗议、讨论等的强度〕 The incident so shocked all the students that it muted further protest. 这个事件震惊了所有学生，从而缓和了进一步的抗议。→ See Verb table

Examples from the Corpus

mute• All the resolution needed for maximum impact, I thought, was to have its sharp working-class rhetoric muted.• However, such public condemnation and the associated moral outrage can, on occasions, be strangely muted.• Reno muted criticism by taking responsibility for the decision, as well as hanging tough during congressional hearings in 1995.• So is the hum and whine, despite being muted further by extra sound-proofing.• The men's footfalls were muted - jungle boots on concrete.• As for immigration, Texans are curiously muted on the subject.• I muted the TV sound to avoid the inane commentary.• To prove their patriotism, Catholics muted whatever differences they perceived between the teachings of Church and the practices of State.

Related topics: Music, Illness & disability

mute3 noun [countable]  1. APMa small piece of metal, rubber etc that you place over or into a musical instrument to make it sound softer 〔乐器上的〕弱音器2. MI old-fashionedSAY# someone who cannot speak 哑巴 → deaf mute

Examples from the Corpus

mute• In the loud, unending human chorus of the Bowery, who besides a mute could have gained that title for himself?• Hollywood will always need a good mute.• Trumpet players in dance bands possess many different sorts of mutes with a corresponding number of resultant timbres.• Southgate and Mandeville, their two mutes behind them, travelled at the head of the procession, whispering to each other.Origin mute1 (1300-1400) French muet, from Latin mutus

mute1 adjectivemute2 verbmute3 nounChinese  

not refuses mute does speak, or who someone is Corpus

mute

I

mute¹ /mjuːt/ adjective1. written someone who is mute does not speak, or refuses to speak
   SYN  silent:
    Billy continued to stand there, mute and defiant.
2. old-fashioned someone who is mute is unable to speak
—mutely adverb

II

mute² verb [transitive]
1. formal to make the sound of something quieter, or make it disappear completely:
    Excess noise can be reduced by muting alarms and telephones.
2. to make a musical instrument sound softer
3. formal to reduce the level of criticism, protest, discussion etc that is happening:
    The incident so shocked all the students that it muted further protest.

III

mute³ noun [countable]
1. a small piece of metal, rubber etc that you place over or into a musical instrument to make it sound softer
2. old-fashioned someone who cannot speak
⇨ deaf mute