Meaning of Mute | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A stopped consonant; a stop.
   obsolete
2. The faeces of a hawk or falcon.
3. An actor who does not speak; a mime performer.
   obsolete
4. A person who does not have the power of speech.
5. A hired mourner at a funeral; an undertaker's assistant.
6. An object for dulling the sound of an instrument, especially a brass instrument, or damper for pianoforte; a sordine.
7. An electronic switch or control that mutes the sound.
8. A mute swan.
9. An action of muting, especially in a discussion forum as a penalty for breaking rules.
   Internet

Equivalents

Examples

“As for the poor honest Maid, whom all the Story is built upon, and who ought to be one of the principal Actors in the Play, she is commonly a Mute in it:”

“The girl left, and presently returned, followed by two male mutes, to whom the Queen made another sign.”

“He asked about the undertaking business, and how many mutes went down with Lady Estrich’s remains […]”

“The little box was eventually carried in one hand by the leading mute, while his colleague, with a finger placed on the lid, to prevent it from swaying, walked to one side and a little to the rear.”

“Then followed a long silence during which the mute turned to them and said, ‘Of course you'll be wanting an urn, sir?’”

“Another related primary control is called a mute, which is simply a switch that kills the signal altogether, allowing for a speedier turn-off than turning the fader all the way down rapidly. Mutes are probably more commonly used during multitrack music recording than during film mixing because in music all tracks are on practically all of the time, whereas workstations produce silence when there is no desired signal […]”

“The trumpeters' fate seems likely to get tangled with that of the mute swan. Currently there's enough habitat for both species, but that may change if trumpeters flourish and mutes aren't controlled. Right now mutes are thriving.”

“On which was written not in words, But hieroglyphic mute of birds”

“The Wart was familiar with the nests of Spar-hawk and Gos, the crazy conglomerations of sticks and oddments which had been taken over from squirrels or crows, and he knew how the twigs and the tree foot were splashed with white mutes, old bones, muddy feathers and castings.”

CEFR level