mute

Word family

mute2 verb [transitiveT]

1 CQUIET formal to make the sound of something quieter, or make it disappear completely 减弱…的声音；消除…的声音

Excess noise can be reduced by muting alarms and telephones.

减弱警报声和电话声可以降低过度的噪音。

2. APMto make a musical instrument sound softer 使〔乐器〕听起来柔和，使〔乐器声音〕弱化

3 formal to reduce the level of criticism, protest, discussion etc that is happening 减弱，缓和〔批评、抗议、讨论等的强度〕

The incident so shocked all the students that it muted further protest.

这个事件震惊了所有学生，从而缓和了进一步的抗议。

Examples from the Corpus

mute• All the resolution needed for maximum impact, I thought, was to have its sharp working-class rhetoric muted.• However, such public condemnation and the associated moral outrage can, on occasions, be strangely muted.• Reno muted criticism by taking responsibility for the decision, as well as hanging tough during congressional hearings in 1995.• So is the hum and whine, despite being muted further by extra sound-proofing.• The men's footfalls were muted - jungle boots on concrete.• As for immigration, Texans are curiously muted on the subject.• I muted the TV sound to avoid the inane commentary.• To prove their patriotism, Catholics muted whatever differences they perceived between the teachings of Church and the practices of State.

mute3 noun [countableC]

1. APMa small piece of metal, rubber etc that you place over or into a musical instrument to make it sound softer 〔乐器上的〕弱音器

2. MI old-fashionedSAY# someone who cannot speak 哑巴

Examples from the Corpus

mute• In the loud, unending human chorus of the Bowery, who besides a mute could have gained that title for himself?• Hollywood will always need a good mute.• Trumpet players in dance bands possess many different sorts of mutes with a corresponding number of resultant timbres.• Southgate and Mandeville, their two mutes behind them, travelled at the head of the procession, whispering to each other.

Origin mute1

(1300-1400) French muet, from Latin mutus

Chinese

Corpus