Dictionary

benumbment en · NOUN

Etymology

From benumb + -ment.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) The act of benumbing, or state of being benumbed; torpor.
   • The first cold weather, after insects have entered their winter quarters, produces effects upon them similar to those which occur in the dormouse, hedgehog, and other of the larger animals subject to torpor. At first a partial benumbment takes place; but the insect if touched is still capable of moving its organs. 1817, William Kirby, An Introduction to Entomology, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green, Volume 2, Letter 26, p. 442:
   • The pain was electric and compact, reducing everything to its own sort of benumbment, making the world beyond my head seem small and dazed. 1997, Don DeLillo, Underworld, New York: Scribner, Part 3, Chapter 3, p. 338:

Forms

Synonyms

numb · numbness