How to Use numb in a Sentence

numb

1 of 2 adjective
Definition of numbnext
Synonyms for numbnext
  • A stroke can cause one side of your body to go numb.
  • The side of my face was still numb an hour after the surgery.
  • Her son had died and she just felt numb.
  • He stood there numb with fear.
  • I had a numb feeling in my toes.
  • It was so cold that my fingers went numb.
  • The numb fans in the stands hadn’t seen such a loss in a very long time.
    — Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle, 19 Mar. 2023
  • By the end, her face and fingers were numb from the cold.
    — Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 28 Nov. 2023
  • This time Sturino woke to find the right side of her face was numb.
    — Bykristine Gill, Fortune, 23 Nov. 2022
  • Is one side of the face drooping or numb, or is the smile uneven?
    — Serena Coady, SELF, 28 Apr. 2022
  • Her hands swelled, her feet went numb, her spine ached.
    — David Walters, Peoplemag, 20 June 2023
  • My body goes numb in the cold water and a sense of calm settles in.
    — David Schechter, Haley Rush, CBS News, 21 Feb. 2023
  • The room was freezing, and the tips of my fingers had wrinkled and gone numb.
    — E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker, 19 July 2023
  • And the children, the most resilient among us, are going numb.
    — Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 8 June 2022
  • Want to book a stay and take so many photos your fingers go numb?
    — Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 23 Aug. 2021
  • Deep frostbite is the next stage, in which the skin can appear blue and mottled, and numb to pain and cold.
    — Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 3 Feb. 2023
  • The thin last keeps the foot in place but the boot has extra room in the toe box to keep those digits from getting numb.
    — Douglas Schnitzspahn, Travel + Leisure, 21 Dec. 2023
  • There will always be a numb area above and behind my left ear.
    — Mike Masterson, Arkansas Online, 17 Jan. 2023
  • When the man handing out food got too cold, or his hands started to go numb, the two would switch roles.
    — Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2022
  • In other words, cough pearls numb your airways to calm the cough reflex.
    — Ayana Underwood, SELF, 7 Feb. 2024
  • My heart was pounding, and when one of my friends sent a screenshot of the video, my entire body went numb.
    — Madison Beer, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2023
  • Once the area is numb, the healthcare provider will make an incision into the abscess to drain the pus.
    — Scott Sundick, Verywell Health, 25 June 2023
  • Her anxiety spiked, her heart thumped out of her chest, and her left arm went numb.
    — Stephen Noonoo, The New Republic, 2 May 2022
  • This cuts off its blood supply, which in turn makes your pinky and ring fingers feel tingly and numb.
    — Amber Brenza, SELF, 8 Sep. 2023
  • Evangelista, now 56, described the changes in her body as hard, numb bulges.
    — Rosa Sanchez, Harper's BAZAAR, 16 Feb. 2022
  • Topol said the country has become numb to the daily death toll, but it should be viewed as too high.
    — Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Staff and Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 11 Mar. 2023
  • The morning was cool and quiet, as Uvalde seemed to sit in numb disbelief.
    — Henry Gass, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 May 2022
  • The long slog of the pandemic - now in its 23rd month - has left Jeffrey Hile almost numb.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 11 Jan. 2022
  • The long slog of the pandemic — now in its 23rd month — has left Jeffrey Hile almost numb.
    — Washington Post, 11 Jan. 2022
  • In one scene, Ivo injects herself with painkillers intended for a patient, so as to feel numb.
    — Peter Debruge, Variety, 28 Feb. 2024
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numb

2 of 2 verb
  • The wind might numb my face, but my hands felt warm enough in their leather work gloves.
    — William T. Vollmann, Harper's Magazine, 16 Oct. 2023
  • If the skin tag is thick and large, your derm may just numb the area and snip it off instead.
    — Chloe Metzger, Allure, 15 Dec. 2023
  • And there are ways in which people have decided to try to numb the pain of the past that aren’t healthy.
    — Jingnan Peng, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 June 2022
  • Put your hand on a hot stove and your body will quickly release a squirt to numb the pain.
    — Karen Weintraub, USA Today, 11 Dec. 2022
  • While there, doctors used numbing eye drops and were able to pry her eye open.
    — Vanessa Etienne, Peoplemag, 12 June 2023
  • For the biopsy, she was placed in stirrups and given a spinal epidural to numb the area.
    — Rachel E. Gross, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2022
  • For those who have been putting it off, an investment in Henry Schein could help numb the pain.
    — Justin Lahart, WSJ, 24 Aug. 2022
  • The study authors conclude that pandas might cover their fur in fresh horse manure to numb themselves to the cold.
    — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Dec. 2020
  • Fragrant, with a hint of citrus, the reddish-pink berries of the prickly ash tree numb the lips upon impact.
    — Tribune News Service, cleveland, 13 Dec. 2021
  • Instead of numbing your brain by playing Candy Crunch, try and see where your idle mind takes you.
    — Tim Brinkhof, Discover Magazine, 5 July 2023
  • And if not medication to calm the nerves, then novocaine to numb the discomfort.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2023
  • Cold therapy has been the gold standard in DIY migraine relief for decades thanks to the numbing effect of a good ice pack.
    — The Glamour Editors, Glamour, 27 June 2023
  • Using cooling, the implant would numb specific peripheral nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body.
    — Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 June 2022
  • What started as using to numb the pain after a few years became using against my will.
    — Rita Omokha, ELLE, 14 Dec. 2022
  • For both Crystal and Brian, the weeks and months following the accident were numbing.
    — Kyle Neddenriep, The Indianapolis Star, 14 May 2023
  • Ross described battling suicidal thoughts and reaching for drugs to numb the pain.
    — Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 8 Dec. 2022
  • This can be done in a healthcare provider's office with topical medicine to numb the affected area.
    — Dr. Roshini Raj, Health, 26 May 2023
  • Come spring, the prospect of getting some vitamin D without opting for a face-numbing polar blast sounds too good to be true.
    — Rachel Silva, ELLE Decor, 10 Mar. 2023
  • For Rodulfo, no—because she was numbed and her technician had a light hand.
    — Margaux Anbouba, ELLE, 28 Feb. 2023
  • Again, a concept and sentence that would have read like parody a year earlier but doesn’t numb the pain of falling short.
    — Michael Casagrande | [email protected], al, 31 Mar. 2021
  • This breed is reportedly known to numb its prey before laying eggs.
    — Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 28 Nov. 2023
  • During a skin biopsy, your doctor will numb your skin and use a small tool to take a sample of your skin cells, which can then be looked at under a microscope.
    — Eleesha Lockett, SELF, 17 June 2022
  • Suvari escaped into the rave scene, late night clubbing and eventually hard drugs to numb the pain.
    — Liz McNeil, PEOPLE.com, 21 July 2021
  • Don’t numb your psychic wounds, but also don’t over-catastrophize.
    — Karen Magruder, The Conversation, 18 Sep. 2023
  • After medication is injected to numb the palm and wrist, a small incision is made near the wrist.
    — Kristin Karim, M.d., Mayo Foundation For Medical Education and Research, Chicago Tribune, 7 July 2023
  • The 30-something Brooklynite played by Arnow herself (in a perpetual Garfield the cat scowl) goes on dull dates and powers through a numbing office job.
    — Beatrice Loayza, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2023
  • That blinding illumination can bring on a numbing sense of malaise, and even derail your day.
    — WSJ, 14 Sep. 2023
  • The first episode finds Jimmy, a year into his mourning, hitting rock bottom, numbing himself with booze and drugs and a late-night pool party with call girls.
    — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2023
  • The most famous is mala, which electrifies with its combination of spicy chiles and numbing, tingly Sichuan pepper.
    — Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times, 9 Nov. 2023
  • People in Auschwitz had to numb themselves quite severely in order to get through that experience.
    — Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 12 Nov. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'numb.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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