deaf W3 /def/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Language: Old English ]
1 . physically unable to hear anything or unable to hear well ⇨ hearing impaired :
communication between deaf and hearing people
I think Mum’s going a bit deaf.
She’s deaf and dumb (=unable to hear or speak) and communicates using sign language.
Tom was born profoundly deaf (=having great difficulty hearing) .
stone deaf/deaf as a post informal (=completely deaf) ⇨ ↑ hard of hearing , ↑ tone-deaf
2 . the deaf [plural] people who are deaf:
a school for the deaf
3 . be deaf to something literary to be unwilling to hear or listen to something:
She was deaf to his pleas.
4 . turn a deaf ear (to something) to be unwilling to listen to what someone is saying or asking:
The factory owners turned a deaf ear to the demands of the workers.
5 . fall on deaf ears if advice or a warning falls on deaf ears, everyone ignores it
—deafness noun [uncountable]
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ go deaf (=become deaf)
By the time he was 50 he had begun to go deaf.
▪ be born deaf
If the mother gets the disease, her baby may be born deaf.
▪ leave somebody deaf (=cause someone to become deaf)
A blow on the head left him permanently deaf.
■ adverbs
▪ totally deaf (=completely deaf)
He was totally deaf, and unable to walk.
▪ partially deaf (=partly deaf)
Most children who are partially deaf can be taught in normal schools.
▪ stone deaf informal (=completely deaf)
She must be stone deaf if she didn’t hear all that noise!
▪ profoundly deaf technical (=completely deaf)
Many profoundly deaf children have great difficulty in learning to read.
■ phrases
▪ as deaf as a post informal (=completely deaf)
He won’t hear you - he’s as deaf as a post.
▪ deaf in one ear
The illness left her deaf in one ear.
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THESAURUS
▪ deaf adjective physically unable to hear anything, or unable to hear well:
Deaf people use sign language to communicate.
▪ be hard of hearing to have difficulty hearing things, for example because you are old:
You’ll have to speak up – she’s a bit hard of hearing.
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subtitles for the hard of hearing
▪ hearing-impaired formal adjective having a permanent physical condition which makes it difficult for you to hear things:
Not all hearing-impaired people are completely deaf.