muter

Pluralmuters

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A device or attachment that dampens or silences sound.

   The muter clamped onto the strings kept the piano from ringing too loudly.

   Sound engineers tested several muters before the late-night recording session.

   Similardamper, silencer, muffler

2. 2
   adjective

   Comparative form of mute; rare, more mute is usual.

   The deep forest felt muter than the bustling town we had left behind.

   He grew muter with each question, until he refused to answer at all.

   Note

   An ordinary short-adjective comparative: mute simply adds -er, and more mute says the same thing. Comparison suits the senses of mute that come in degrees, silent or speechless, rather than a silent letter or a dull-sounding metal. The spelling is shared with the noun for a sound-damping device, also built from mute plus -er. An article before the word marks the noun; than after it marks the comparison.

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