mutes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of mute.

   The orchestra's brass section fitted their mutes before the quiet passage.

   Two mutes lay forgotten on the conductor's stand after rehearsal.

   Note

   One spelling, several very different crowds. Mutes can be dampers fitted to brass instruments, the switches that silence a device, hired mourners at a funeral, or people without the power of speech. Two older uses, for stopped consonants and for actors who do not speak, are now obsolete. Only context tells them apart, and it also separates the noun from the verb meaning 'silences', which is spelled the same way.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of mute.

   The app automatically mutes background noise during a call.

   A thick carpet mutes the sound of footsteps in the hallway.

   Note

   A present-tense form that nearly always takes an object: a carpet mutes footsteps, and a host mutes a noisy caller. The striking exception is archaic. Said of a bird, to mute meant to defecate, so a bird that mutes has nothing to do with sound. A further sense, to cast off or molt, also takes an object. None of these is the plural noun that shares the spelling.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2