I. adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a dull pain (= a slight but continuous pain )
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There was a dull pain in his lower jaw.
a dull/hard/heavy thud
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There was a dull thud as the box hit the floor.
a dull/routine existence
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I was overjoyed at the prospect of leaving my routine existence behind.
cloudy/dull/overcast (= with clouds )
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Cloudy skies were forecast.
dull ache
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A dull ache throbbed at the back of David’s head.
dull (= not shiny )
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a shampoo for dull hair
there’s never a dull moment (= something is always exciting or full of activity )
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There’s never a dull moment with Chris around!
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
as
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It was as dull as the overcast sky.
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Without the light from the screen, the condo room seems as dull and impersonal as a room in a Holiday Inn.
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Today her eyes were as dull as a puddle.
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The flat, oblong tin was full of chunky rings, as dull as lead but interestingly shaped and bevelled.
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Such students may seem to lack initiative and may even be dismissed as dull .
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The bald dome of a head emerged first, cast by the moonlight as dull ivory.
never
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And life there is never dull .
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They were not perfect, but they were never dull , either.
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But life is never dull when she is around.
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There was one church in Malvern, however, where things were never dull .
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Whether one agreed with his view of a work or not, Bernstein was never dull .
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It is never dull or static.
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Life's never dull when Ronny's around.
pretty
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Resorts that are glorious in mid-summer can be bleak and damp in winter as well as pretty dull when the tourist season is over.
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No, most arbitrations are pretty dull , transfer of bargaining-unit work, etc.
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Good plan-except the result is a pretty dull confection for anyone but ardent Depp and praline fans.
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Real detective work can be pretty dull .
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Early levels are pretty dull , but as they get littered with more traps and obstacles, things get more interesting.
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The sports page was pretty dull .
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It looked pretty dull to me, although I did not say so.
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And, for all the appeal of his singing and playing, Paul Hipp comes out pretty dull between the numbers.
rather
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In reality, one finds people reading newspapers, knitting and drinking cups of tea, but this constitutes rather dull television.
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The Pierce and Pierce bond department had consisted of only twenty souls, twenty rather dull souls known as the Bond Bores.
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No definite shape, rather dull colour.
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It is a reputable if rather dull book, but Lord Derby was a dull man.
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They make a thing of this strong-box business, but ours mostly has rather dull securities and family papers in it.
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Certainly the resulting curriculum looks rather dull compared with the initial considerations which offered the possibility of a refreshing new view.
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For wholefood enthusiasts, I would recommend buckwheat pasta rather than wholemeal, which I think is rather dull in flavour and texture.
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Smooth and polished, but rather dull .
so
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Small wonder the back benches look so dull .
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Apollo said that he was merely giving to ears so dull and dense the proper shape.
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Their food is so dull and poor that they will be ill when the bad weather comes.
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I wonder how Bob can be so dull on the surface and have such interesting friends.
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It seemed so dull by comparison.
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It is a humdrum enough explanation which goes some way to explaining why most public appointments are so dull .
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The question is, how did these guys manage to make so many beautiful women look so dull ?
too
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This week, Ali G lookalike Gavin Burtenshaw hit the headlines for reasons too dull to mention.
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Now he was dead, it would be too dangerous and too dull .
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In summary, this: that men were either too dull or too pointed with nothing in between.
very
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This sounds very dull , but it isn't.
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They just seemed very ordinary and very dull and boring people.
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The office at Felixstowe seemed a very dull and prosaic place after those hectic nine months.
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After the first thrill of novelty wears off, the Internet can be a very dull place.
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The former were usually lively and interesting; the latter, almost equally likely to be very dull indeed.
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The palette will guide you towards a wide range of violets from the very dull to the bright.
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Her own visit to the cinema with an inarticulate young man from the West of Ireland seemed very dull by comparison.
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They liked to name places after very dull Victorians.
■ NOUN
ache
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The pain in her lower back subsided leaving a dull ache .
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I am feeling much better, though there are many times when I feel a dull ache .
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Sleep away the tiredness and the dull ache inside his head, that was the thing to do.
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They felt nothing but a dull ache in their backs.
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It ached an ugly, dull ache.
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It starts as a dull ache that gradually evolves into a severe throbbing pain, centering in the frontal and temporal regions.
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It wasn't really very bad but it was a dull ache that made her realise she would never get to sleep.
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It seemed that here, there was never any spring, only wind and rain and the dull ache of loss.
life
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With or without heart trouble, Shelby wasn't a man to settle for a dull life .
moment
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And, you know, there isn't one dull moment in the entire opera!
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But how many dull moments may I have given my listeners?
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Never a dull moment in this establishment.
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There was seldom a dull moment in our house.
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There was certainly never a dull moment in our section of the Waafery.
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Never a dull moment , sitting around Fif's.
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Even the most interesting of jobs will have its fair share of dull moments , for there is drudgery in every job.
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There's never a dull moment at Ballytreabhair.
pain
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There was a dull pain in his left biceps - Tessa's head was pillowed on it.
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There are days when I scarcely remember the injury, other days when I feel drained by a constant dull pain .
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His stomach contracted and dull pain in his empty lungs spread.
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He didn't bother to report the headache to the medical officer, considering the dull pain only a minor discomfort.
thud
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As he moved along the rows of guns, his wooden leg sounded dull thuds .
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The gunshots were no longer dull thuds echoing off the hill but reports, punctuated by the snapping of triggers.
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There were dull thuds from the cargo hold.
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Another dull thud behind his left knee.
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The gates shut behind him with a dull thud and the sound of the wind died away.
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Plastic produces a dull thud , while glass gives a high-pitched clink.
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Almost immediately there was a dull thud as it fell on the floor.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)
as dull as ditchwater
deadly serious/dull/boring etc
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And at a time which - surely it was obvious - was deadly serious.
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He's a deadly dull little man as far as I can see.
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He was deadly serious and I knew it.
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His companion chuckled at the jest, but Gravelet, whose stage name was Blondin, was deadly serious.
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It was now clear, however, that the position was becoming deadly serious.
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Suppose, for example, you regularly attend a weekly meeting which tends to be deadly dull.
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The noise level was high in both languages; all faces were deadly serious.
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The primary indicator is Attempts to be deadly serious invariably result in unintended comedy.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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a dull headache
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A dull opening Wednesday on Wall Street kept stock prices at low levels.
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a dull student
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Her hair was a dull , darkish brown.
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Here, use this knife - that one's dull .
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His head hit the floor with a dull thud.
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I'm afraid I must seem very dull compared with all those interesting people you meet.
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It will be dry but dull this morning, with the possibility of showers later in the day.
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Margaret has such a dull personality.
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Our neighbours are OK, I suppose, but they're so dull !
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They chose a red clay pot decorated with patterns in dull white paint.
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This kind of mindless work can become very dull very quickly.
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This place gets really dull at times.
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We spent a dull afternoon with some of Harold's business associates.
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When a plant changes color from bright green to dull gray-green, it needs water.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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A dull look in his eyes.
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A clean site that people can find their way around easily will always beat one that's complicated, dull or fussy.
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And their dull appearance is often accompanied by teaching methods that consist mostly of scribbling graphs on a blackboard.
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Any animal species that happens to be superficially dull will be ignored, perhaps even maltreated.
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I hate all ordinary dull little people who aren't ashamed of being dull and little.
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My job is dull and boring.
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We are not employed just for work - dull , boring, monotonous work.
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Without the light from the screen, the condo room seems as dull and impersonal as a room in a Holiday Inn.
II. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
pain
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Gin, ice and tonic water dull the pain of a long day.
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Finally, the sweetness of the moment dulled the pain of knowing I had just placed my most cherished customer in jeopardy.
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The anaesthetist, Peter Graham, had arrived and managed to dull his pain .
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The dentist office dulls the pain , and that is a new experience for Osvaldo Fernandez.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Three times a day, he takes medication to dull the pain from back problems.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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As soon as a leaf dries, it begins to dull , lacking the luminescence that one full of juices has.
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But those wines give only momentary pleasure and thereafter the senses are dulled and the mind is clouded.
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Finally, the sweetness of the moment dulled the pain of knowing I had just placed my most cherished customer in jeopardy.
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It swirled amongst the convent buildings, dulling the spirit - even mine after such a riotous night.
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On surveying the organizational ranks, they see only low morale, divisiveness, cynicism, and dulled thinking.
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The streets are clean, there's no smog to dull the sunshine, and the skyscrapers don't overpower.