I. numb 1 /nʌm/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Origin: From the past participle of nim 'to take' (11-19 centuries) , from Old English niman ]
1 . a part of your body that is numb is unable to feel anything, for example because you are very cold:
My fingers were so numb I could hardly write.
The anaesthetic made his whole face go numb.
2 . unable to think, feel, or react in a normal way SYN paralysed
numb with shock/fear/terror etc
I just sat there, numb with fear.
—numbly adverb :
She watched numbly as Matt walked away.
—numbness noun [uncountable] :
It caused some numbness in my hand.
II. numb 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to make someone unable to feel pain or feel things they are touching:
The cold had numbed her fingers.
the numbing effect of the drug
2 . to make someone unable to think, feel, or react in a normal way:
He was numbed by the shock of his wife’s death.