Part 574

Dul"ly (?), adv. In a dull manner; stupidly; slowly; sluggishly; without life or spirit.

Supinely calm and dully innocent.

G. Lyttelton.

Du*loc"ra*cy (?), n. See Doulocracy.

Dulse (dls), n. [Cf. Gael. duileasg; duille leaf + uisge water. Cf. Whisky.] (Bot.) A seaweed of a reddish brown color, which is sometimes eaten, as in Scotland. The true dulse is Sarcophyllis edulis; the common is Rhodymenia. [Written also dillisk.]

The crimson leaf of the dulse is seen To blush like a banner bathed in slaughter.

Percival.

Dul"wil*ly (?), n. [Prob. imitative.] (Zoöl.) The ring plover. [Prov. Eng.]

Du"ly (?), adv. In a due, fit, or becoming manner; as it (anything) ought to be; properly; regularly.

Du"mal (?), a. [L. dumus bramble.] Pertaining to, or set with, briers or bushes; brambly. [R.]

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.

To unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures.

Hooker.

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

This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.

Shak.

To pierce into the dumb past.

J. C. Shairp.

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

Her stern was painted of a dumb white or dun color.

De Foe.

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.

Dumb, v. t. To put to silence. [Obs.] Shak.

Dumb"-bell` (?), n. A weight, consisting of two spheres or spheroids, connected by a short bar for a handle; used (often in pairs) for gymnastic exercise.

Dum"ble*dor` (?), n. [The first part is prob. of imitative origin. See Dor a beetle.] (Zoöl.) A bumblebee; also, a cockchafer. [Prov. Eng.]

Dumb"ly (?), adv. In silence; mutely.

Dumb"ness, n. The quality or state of being dumb; muteness; silence; inability to speak.