Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - numb

(numbs, numbing, numbed) 1. If a part of your body is numb, you cannot feel anything there. He could feel his fingers growing numb at their tips... My legs felt numb and my toes ached. ADJ: usu v-link ADJ • numbness I have recently been suffering from pain and numbness in my hands. N-UNCOUNT: oft N in n 2. If you are numb with shock, fear, or grief, you are so shocked, frightened, or upset that you cannot think clearly or feel any emotion. The mother, numb with grief, has trouble speaking... I was so shocked I went numb. ADJ: usu v-link ADJ, oft ADJ with n • numbness Many men become more aware of emotional numbness in their 40s. N-UNCOUNT: oft adj N • numbly He walked numbly into the cemetery. ADV: ADV with v 3. If an event or experience numbs you, you can no longer think clearly or feel any emotion. For a while the shock of Philippe’s letter numbed her... The horror of my experience has numbed my senses. VERB: V n, V n see also mind-numbing • numbed I’m so numbed with shock that I can hardly think. ...the sort of numbed hush which usually follows an automobile accident. ADJ: usu v-link ADJ 4. If cold weather, a drug, or a blow numbs a part of your body, you can no longer feel anything in it. An injection of local anaesthetic is usually given first to numb the area... She awoke with a numbed feeling in her left leg. VERB: V n, V-ed