Definition of "benumb" [be•numb]

• To make numb, especially by cold. (verb-transitive)
• To make inactive; dull: "The anesthetic afternoon benumbs, sickens our senses” ( Karl Shapiro). See Synonyms at daze. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "By my dictionary definition, to stupefy means to "overwhelm with amazement, astound, astonish"; "to stun, as with strong emotions, to benumb the faculties of as in 'put in to a stupor'.""
• "When I felt that cursed wheel pass across my breast, when I felt the pistol-ball benumb my arm, I felt no more agitation than at the bounce of a champagne-cork."
• "Wonderful power to benumb possesses this brother. —"