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benumb'd

Diction
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Numbed; made dull or insensitive. The apostrophe marks an older poetic spelling.

Detailed Definition
Benumbed means made numb, sluggish, or unable to feel clearly. In this poem it describes the speaker’s mental and physical exhaustion, showing how relentless work has dulled both body and mind.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Till the heart is sick, and the brain benumb’d,” uses the apostrophe for benumbed, meaning made numb or dull; Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale” links benumbed thought with emotional exhaustion; “after the sirens, the city stood benumbed” transfers bodily numbness to collective shock; the word can suggest physical cold, grief, trauma, or mental fatigue
Additional Notes
The form "benumb'd" is an archaic poetic spelling of a less common word, so readers may pause at it.; Found in the poem, The Song of the Shirt by Thomas Hood
Also Known As
numbed dulled benumbed senses rendered insensible
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