From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Stun \Stun\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Stunned}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Stunning}.] [OE. stonien, stownien; either fr. AS. stunian
to resound (cf. D. stenen to groan, G. st["o]hnen, Icel.
stynja, Gr. ?, Skr. stan to thunder, and E. thunder), or from
the same source as E. astonish. [root]168.]
1. To make senseless or dizzy by violence; to render
senseless by a blow, as on the head.
[1913 Webster]
One hung a poleax at his saddlebow,
And one a heavy mace to stun the foe. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
2. To dull or deaden the sensibility of; to overcome;
especially, to overpower one's sense of hearing.
[1913 Webster]
And stunned him with the music of the spheres.
--Pope.
[1913 Webster]
3. To astonish; to overpower; to bewilder.
[1913 Webster]
William was quite stunned at my discourse. --De Foe.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
stunned
adj 1: filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise
or shock; "an amazed audience gave the magician a
standing ovation"; "I stood enthralled, astonished by the
vastness and majesty of the cathedral"; "astounded
viewers wept at the pictures from the Oklahoma City
bombing"; "stood in stunned silence"; "stunned scientists
found not one but at least three viruses" [syn: {amazed},
{astonied}, {astonished}, {astounded}, {stunned}]
2: knocked unconscious by a heavy blow [syn: {knocked out(p)},
{kayoed}, {KO'd}, {out(p)}, {stunned}]
3: in a state of mental numbness especially as resulting from
shock; "he had a dazed expression on his face"; "lay
semiconscious, stunned (or stupefied) by the blow"; "was
stupid from fatigue" [syn: {dazed}, {stunned}, {stupefied},
{stupid(p)}]
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