Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Incapacity of perceiving or distinguishing sounds, in consequence of the impairment of the organs of hearing; that state of the organs which prevents the reception of the impressions that constitute hearing; want of the sense of hearing.
  • noun Unwillingness to hear; voluntary rejection of what is addressed to the ear or to the understanding.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Incapacity of perceiving sounds; the state of the organs which prevents the impression which constitute hearing; want of the sense of hearing.
  • noun Unwillingness to hear; voluntary rejection of what is addressed to the understanding.
  • noun a variety of deafness dependent upon morbid change in some portion of the nervous system, especially the auditory nerve.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The condition of being deaf; the lack or loss of the ability to hear.
  • noun figuratively Lack of knowledge or refusal to admit a particular problem, issue, etc.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun partial or complete loss of hearing

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From deaf +‎ -ness.

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