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dim
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
dim
I.adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a dim/distant memory (=not clear, from a long time ago)
▪ He had only dim memories of his father, who had died when he was four.
a vague/dim outline (=difficult to see)
▪ I could just make out a vague outline of a barn.
dim (=not bright)
▪ Gradually her eyes became accustomed to the dim light.
in the dim and distant pasthumorous (= a long time ago)
▪ Back in the dim and distant past when I was at school, computers didn’t exist.
in the dim and distant past (=a very long time ago)
▪ I think she sang Ireland's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest sometime in the dim and distant past.
subdued/dim/soft lighting (=lighting that is not very bright)
the dim and distant future (=a very long time from now)
▪ He plans to get married in the dim and distant future.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
too
▪ The light was too dim, the newsprint wavered, the words blurred together.
▪ For all but the larger instruments, it is too dim.
▪ It had been refitted with a low-watt bulb practically too dim to see by, in order to save electricity.
▪ Thankfully he was too dim to perceive the effect he had on his beloved and puffed smoke lovingly at every sourness.
▪ And when it becomes too dim, it must be abandoned and replaced.
▪ I looked at the altimeter, but it was too dim to read.
very
▪ The shape of Cancer always reminds me of a very dim and ghostly Orion.
▪ The voices had become very dim, barely audible; but something else had grown penetratingly strong.
▪ He felt at bay, like a very dim minister facing a hostile House.
■ NOUN
glow
▪ Outlined against the dim glow from outside, his tall silhouette filled the open doorway.
▪ Its dim glow came from Baby Suggs' room.
▪ The dim glow of passing headlights makes his shaved head and the shades propped on top of it shine.
light
▪ Flickering beams of dim light came with it, caressing the machinery which shielded their source from direct view.
▪ Only a dim light glowed in the direction of the stairs.
▪ The two men looked at each other in the dim light, their faces grey and weary.
▪ No one dared to object to him directly about his dim light, though some people grumbled about it in loud whispers.
▪ In the dim light she could just make out some moving shapes.
▪ The always dim lights were not working, but the soldiers no longer shone their flashlights into our faces.
▪ At the moment it was half open, the dim light in the hall looking cool and restful after the outside glare.
▪ They sat at the table in dim light going over pronunciations.
memory
▪ His own father had died when he was four and he had only dim memories of him.
▪ It arouses dim memories of that tragic time when the flow of milk ceased for the child, when he was weaned.
▪ A dim memory teased the back of her mind.
▪ In the end only a dim memory of them was left.
▪ Antoinette had once or twice talked of it, and Thérèse herself had one or two dim memories of that time.
recollection
▪ My dim recollection was that there was discussion of such questions in Mary Shelley's novel.
sum
▪ Most of the dim sum is priced at $ 2 or $ 3.
▪ Uncle Shim brought high-tea lunches, dim sum, for us.
▪ Dim Sum Dictionary A word about dim sum in general: It is not for people who must know every ingredient.
▪ Louise Renne, who ran unopposed for city attorney, threw a dim sum party for successful treasurer candidate Susan Leal.
view
▪ Now, Pearce takes a pretty dim view of this kind of behaviour.
▪ The tendency of bureaucrats to take a dim view of whistle-blowers is particularly marked in the military.
▪ I hope that the Minister is not back-tracking on them because we would take a dim view of that.
▪ This was a particularly flimsy sounding rationale coming from Martinez, who took such a dim view of his students' prospects.
▪ But let's assume that as a reader of this paper you take a dim view of these matters.
▪ Most workers instinctively know this and, in most circumstances, take a dim view of union organizing efforts.
▪ The source also revealed the dim view of the sale plan being taken by the Museums and Galleries Commission.
▪ Science is a highly disciplined industry that has traditionally taken a very dim view of emotional expression.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Dying embers gave out a dim glow in the hearth.
▪ For many students the 1970s are dim history.
▪ He saw the dim outline of the taxi-driver's head inside the cab.
▪ I'm playing a guy who's well-meaning but kind of dim.
▪ I was led through a dim hallway to his office.
▪ It was impossible to read by the dim light of the fire.
▪ She's not the brightest kid in the class -- in fact, she's quite dim.
▪ The boy's just a little dim.
▪ The lights were dim.
▪ There was enough starlight coming in the window to make out the dim shapes of bunkbeds and rucksacks.
▪ There was nothing in the room but a table, a chair, and a dim lamp.
▪ We could only see a dim outline of a ship in the distance.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ He turned, his eyes resting momentarily upon the dim, grey shape of the funerary couch.
▪ His face shadowed by the dim light, he crept out and slipped through a door behind the bridge.
▪ That first visit when I stayed at the Al Ain Hilton seemed in the dim past.
▪ The reading light over her seat is dim.
▪ There were those in the dim corridors of Headquarters who said that his rise had been too fast.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
light
▪ The lights dim and hushed expectancy shudders through the packed house.
▪ And when the lights dimmed, faux snow began to float down from the ceiling and on to the sweet-smelling soil.
▪ The dim lights were dimmed some more, and advertisements for local shops and eating places began.
▪ The lights dim, then go off, plunging the hall into darkness.
▪ Yards of water round the crooked trees; house lights dim behind a gauze of rain.
▪ Inside, the lobby lights had been dimmed like the interior of an airplane on a night flight.
▪ With the lights dimmed, a solo accordion played a brief, preliminary waltz.
▪ The sun was no longer lighting up the stable and in the window the light was dimming.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Can you dim the lights? I have a headache.
▪ Her words dimmed our hopes of a peaceful settlement.
▪ The painful memory began to dim.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ By that time, witnesses may be unavailable-some may be dead or their memories dimmed.
▪ Even the death of Laura Ashley did not dim City enthusiasm.
▪ Inside, the lobby lights had been dimmed like the interior of an airplane on a night flight.
▪ Shadowy twilight never dimmed the brightness.
▪ That gap has fluctuated between about 2. 7 percent and 1. 45, widening whenever prospects for monetary union dim.
▪ When she emerged, the wall-lights had been dimmed and the polished table by the french windows had been set for two.
▪ You're surrounded by strangers, your dozy curiosity in their sayings and doings dimming as the house lights go down.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Dim

Dim \Dim\, v. i. To grow dim.
--J. C. Shairp.

Dim

Dim \Dim\, a. [Compar. Dimmer; superl. Dimmest.] [AS. dim; akin to OFries. dim, Icel. dimmr: cf. MHG. timmer, timber; of uncertain origin.]

  1. Not bright or distinct; wanting luminousness or clearness; obscure in luster or sound; dusky; darkish; obscure; indistinct; overcast; tarnished.

    The dim magnificence of poetry.
    --Whewell.

    How is the gold become dim!
    --Lam. iv. 1.

    I never saw The heavens so dim by day.
    --Shak.

    Three sleepless nights I passed in sounding on, Through words and things, a dim and perilous way.
    --Wordsworth.

  2. Of obscure vision; not seeing clearly; hence, dull of apprehension; of weak perception; obtuse.

    Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow.
    --Job xvii. 7.

    The understanding is dim.
    --Rogers.

    Note: Obvious compounds: dim-eyed; dim-sighted, etc.

    Syn: Obscure; dusky; dark; mysterious; imperfect; dull; sullied; tarnished.

Dim

Dim \Dim\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dimmed; p. pr. & vb. n. Dimming.]

  1. To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or distinct; to take away the luster of; to darken; to dull; to obscure; to eclipse.

    A king among his courtiers, who dims all his attendants.
    --Dryden.

    Now set the sun, and twilight dimmed the ways.
    --Cowper.

  2. To deprive of distinct vision; to hinder from seeing clearly, either by dazzling or clouding the eyes; to darken the senses or understanding of.

    Her starry eyes were dimmed with streaming tears.
    --C. Pitt.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
dim

Old English dimm "dark, gloomy, obscure," from Proto-Germanic *dimbaz (cognates: Old Norse dimmr, Old Frisian dim, Old High German timber "dark, black, somber"). Not known outside Germanic. Slang sense of "stupid" is from 1892. Related: Dimly; dimness.

dim

c.1200, perhaps in Old English, from dim (adj.). Related: Dimmed; dimming.

Wiktionary
dim
  1. 1 Not bright or colorful. 2 (cx colloquial English) Not smart or intelligent. 3 indistinct, hazy or unclear. 4 disapproving, unfavorable: {{non-gloss definition|rarely used outside the phrase (term take a dim view of English).}} adv. (context obsolete English) dimly, indistinctly. n. (context archaic English) dimness. v

  2. 1 (context transitive English) To make something less bright. 2 (context intransitive English) To become darker. 3 To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or distinct; to take away the luster of; to darken; to dull; to obscure; to eclipse. 4 To deprive of distinct vision; to hinder from seeing clearly, either by dazzling or clouding the eyes; to darken the senses or understanding of.

WordNet
dim
  1. adj. lacking in light; not bright or harsh; "a dim light beside the bed"; "subdued lights and soft music" [syn: subdued]

  2. lacking clarity or distinctness; "a dim figure in the distance"; "only a faint recollection"; "shadowy figures in the gloom"; "saw a vague outline of a building through the fog"; "a few wispy memories of childhood" [syn: faint, shadowy, vague, wispy]

  3. made dim or less bright; "the dimmed houselights brought a hush of anticipation"; "dimmed headlights"; "we like dimmed lights when we have dinner" [syn: dimmed] [ant: undimmed]

  4. offering little or no hope; "the future looked black"; "prospects were bleak"; "Life in the Aran Islands has always been bleak and difficult"- J.M.Synge; "took a dim view of things" [syn: black, bleak]

  5. slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; "so dense he never understands anything I say to him"; "never met anyone quite so dim"; "although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray; "dumb officials make some really dumb decisions"; "he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse"; "worked with the slow students" [syn: dense, dull, dumb, obtuse, slow]

  6. [also: dimming, dimmed, dimmest, dimmer]

dim
  1. v. switch (a car's headlights) from a higher to a lower beam [syn: dip]

  2. become or make darker; "The screen darkend"; "He darkened the colors by adding brown" [syn: darken] [ant: brighten]

  3. become dim or lusterless; "the lights dimmed and the curtain rose"

  4. make dim or lusterless; "Time had dimmed the silver"

  5. make dim by comparison or conceal [syn: blind]

  6. become vague or indistinct; "The distinction between the two theories blurred" [syn: blur, slur] [ant: focus]

  7. [also: dimming, dimmed, dimmest, dimmer]

Wikipedia
Dim (album)

Dim is the fourth studio album by Japanese rock band The Gazette. It was released on July 15, 2009 in Japan. It includes the three lead up singles: " Guren", " Leech", and " Distress and Coma". The album scored #2 on the Oricon Daily Charts and #5 on the Oricon Weekly Charts, selling 37,797 copies in its first week.

Dim

Dim may refer to:

  • A low level of lighting; lacking in brightness
    • Dimmer, a device to vary the brightness
  • A keyword that declares a variable or array, in most versions of BASIC
  • Stupidity, a lack of intelligence
  • Dim (album), the fourth studio album by Japanese rock band The Gazette
  • Dim, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran

The abbreviation dim may refer to:

  • Deportivo Independiente Medellín, a Colombian football club
  • Dimension, a measure of how many parameters is sufficient to describe an object in mathematics
    • Dimension (vector space), the number of vectors needed to describe the basis in a vector space, in linear algebra
  • Diminished triad, a dissonant chord with a minor third and diminished fifth to the root in music theory
  • Diminuendo, a word indicating changes of dynamics in music
  • Diminutive, a formation of a word
  • Diploma in Management, a non-academic management designation awarded in Diploma Programs

The abbreviation dIm may mean:

  • Some types of a dwarf irregular galaxy; a small galaxy ( dwarf galaxy, "d") which contains a not easily classified structure ( irregular galaxy, "Im") that is not spiral ("Sm"). It can also be abbreviated "dI" or "dIrr".

DIM may also refer to:

  • 3,3'-Diindolylmethane, an anticarcinogen compound
  • Dirección de Inteligencia Militar, the military intelligence agency of Venezuela
  • Data In Motion, a term used in data encryption; compare with Data at Rest.
DIM (automobiles)

DIM Motor Company, a Greek automobile maker, was created by Georgios Dimitriadis as a successor to his earlier company, Bioplastic S.A., which had produced the Attica automobile. The DIM represented one more effort by Mr. Dimitriadis to design and develop a modern car entirely by his company's own means. A 400cc, air-cooled, 2-cylinder, 30-hp engine was also developed in-house to power the vehicle, but due to delays in the engine development, the car was introduced with a 600cc engine and other mechanical parts of the Fiat 126 model. A 650cc Fiat engine was also used, in an improved version. The car was finally introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1977, and for this reason received more publicity than most Greek vehicles, appearing in many international publications. All development work had been made in a factory intended for its production in Acharnes, while the company was advertised in the Greek press; plans were also made for more versions, including a sports coupe. However, the costs involved and the car's poor prospects in the Greek market (despite an effort to facelift the model) resulted in termination of production after only about ten had been produced. The whole project was abandoned in 1982, having been Georgios Dimitriadis' last venture in the automotive industry.

Usage examples of "dim".

The scene I cannot describe--I should faint if I tried it, for there is madness in a room full of classified charnel things, with blood and lesser human debris almost ankle-deep on the slimy floor, and with hideous reptilian abnormalities sprouting, bubbling, and baking over a winking bluish-green spectre of dim flame in a far corner of black shadows.

The world that you see in dim light is similar to the world of the achromat, that rare person who has no color vision at all.

After the actinic glow of the drive, the white heat of the drive components seemed dim by comparison.

From some dim adytum the recorded carols of a private celebration could be heard, and some laughter.

Tarrant entered the aeroponics room, the gleaming white PVC pipe and enameled steel in shining contrast to the dim red of the fishery.

But that seemed to dim from his mind now as the reality of Algor impressed itself upon him.

This was the person who had driven my car through the night five months before--the person I had not seen since that brief call when he had forgotten the oldtime doorbell signal and stirred such nebulous fears in me--and now he filled me with the same dim feeling of blasphemous alienage and ineffable cosmic hideousness.

This was the person who had driven my car through the night five months before - the person I had not seen since that brief call when he had forgotten the oldtime doorbell signal and stirred such nebulous fears in me - and now he filled me with the same dim feeling of blasphemous alienage and ineffable cosmic hideousness.

Had there been a light in her belly, dim briny light in that pillowing womb, dusk enough to light a page, bacterial smear of light, an amniotic gleam that I could taste, old, deep, wet and warm?

He stared at the dim armory, ashamed of the way he had treated the only man who had remained his friend throughout this whole mess.

The house was not yet astir and the hall was dim behind the shutters that had been drawn for the night.

Surrounding Atene, they led her from the Sanctuary, accompanied by her uncle the Shaman, who, as it seemed to me, either through fatigue or fear, could scarcely stand upon his feet, but stood blinking his dim eyes as though the light dazed him.

Rhapsody watched as the bright celestial light dimmed in the brightening sky, then began to sing her last customary aubade, the song to Seren, the star she was born beneath, on the other side of the world.

Their bond made Tarrant sensitive to her aura, but turning her focus inward dimmed her auric energy as if she was really sleeping.

She lay back on the bed, staring through the transparent roof at the lazy winding valleys beyond the dimming axial light-tube.