deafening, ppl. a.
(ˈdɛf(ə)nɪŋ)
[-ing2.]
1. That deafens or stuns with noise.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. i. 24 With deaff'ning Clamors. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 520 All the host of Hell With deafning shout return'd them loud acclaim. 1791 Cowper Iliad ix. 714 The tumult and the deaf'ning din of war. 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. III. 498 The deafening storm of denunciation which burst out. |
b. deafening silence, a silence heavy with significance; spec. a conspicuous failure to respond to or comment on a matter.
| 1968 Sci. News XCIII. 328/3 (heading) Deafening silence; deadly words. 1976 Survey Spring 195 The so-called mass media made public only these voices of support. There was a deafening silence about protests and about critical voices. 1985 Times 28 Aug. 5/1 Conservative and Labour MPs have complained of a ‘deafening silence’ over the affair. |
† 2. Becoming deaf. Obs. rare.
| 1680 Earl Roscom. Poems (1780) 81 Music no more delights our deaf'ning ears. |
Hence ˈdeafeningly adv., in a deafening manner.
| 1827 Hare Guesses (1859) 326 And beat it they do deafeningly, at every corner of a street. |