mute

«mute» in Mova's school dictionary: To mute a sound, phone, TV or video call is to turn its… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (mute); verb (mute, mutes, muted, muting); noun (a mute, mutes)

meaning for a pupil

1) To mute a sound, phone, TV or video call is to turn its sound off so nothing can be heard; the mute button does this. tree →

2) Mute means silent, not speaking: she stayed mute. tree →

3) Muted colours or sounds are soft, quiet or not bright. tree →

4) A mute on a musical instrument, like a trumpet or violin, is something that makes its sound quieter or different. tree →

5) (old-fashioned, now offensive) Mute was once used for a person who cannot speak; today we say «non-speaking» or «a person who does not speak». tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life and online classes «mute» is very common: «You're on mute!», «Please mute your microphone.» In stories a character may be «struck mute» with surprise. In music lessons a trumpet mute changes the sound. Phrases: on mute, mute button, mute yourself, mute the TV, muted colours, a mute swan.

examples

• Please mute your microphone when the teacher is talking. tree →
• Dad, you're still on mute! tree →
• She muted the TV during the adverts. tree →
• He stood mute with shock. tree →
• The room was painted in muted greens and greys. tree →
• The trumpet player put a mute in his trumpet. tree →
• A mute swan is a white swan with an orange beak. tree →
• You can mute a group chat if it gets too noisy. tree →
• But Night stood still and mute. tree →

note

Verb forms: mute, mutes, muted, muting. «On mute» = sound off; «unmute» = turn sound back on. In spelling, a «silent letter» is sometimes called a mute letter (the k in «knee»). Be kind: calling a person «mute» can be hurtful; say they do not speak or use sign language. A mute swan is not silent; it can hiss and snort.

In the corpora

• Most consoles and games let you mute your microphone and let parents limit voice chat to friends.
• Then he remembered his dad's four words: mute, block, report, tell.
• He muted the man (the silence was wonderful), blocked him, and his dad showed him the report button.
• Ruby heard grown-up strangers swearing on voice chat and muted all voice chat in the settings.
• Mute, block, report and tell a grown-up are the four tools against a nasty player.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «mute» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.