deafen

deafen — verb

1. To take away a person's ability to hear through an extremely loud sound, either

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB2
Definition

To take away a person's ability to hear through an extremely loud sound, either for a moment or forever.

Example

The explosion at the factory deafened Reuben and his co-worker for several hours.

active voice: deafen + direct object

Manuela's ears were still deafened the morning after the rock concert ended.

passive: be deafened + by (implied sound source)

Common collocations
  • deafened by an explosion
  • deafened by loud music
  • temporarily deafened
  • completely deafened
  • deafen someone with noise

Grammar Patterns

deafen + noun phrase

be deafened + by + noun phrase

Usage Note

Frequently used in the passive voice (be deafened by). The cause of deafening is typically a sudden explosion, loud machinery, or amplified sound. The active voice is also correct but less common.

Common Mistakes

The music deafened when I turned it up.
The music deafened me when I turned it up.
'deafen' is transitive and needs a direct object; it cannot be used without one.
He was deaf by the loud noise.
He was deafened by the loud noise.
'deaf' is an adjective describing a permanent state; 'deafened' is the past participle describing the action of being made unable to hear.