a. [ Cf. Prov. G. bludde a dull or blunt knife, Dan. blunde to sleep, Sw. & Icel. blunda; or perh. akin to E. blind. ] 1. Having a thick edge or point, as an instrument; dull; not sharp. [ 1913 Webster ]

The murderous knife was dull and blunt. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Dull in understanding; slow of discernment; stupid; -- opposed to acute. [ 1913 Webster ]

His wits are not so blunt. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious; wanting the forms of civility; rough in manners or speech. “Hiding his bitter jests in blunt behavior.” “A plain, blunt man.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Hard to impress or penetrate. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I find my heart hardened and blunt to new impressions. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Blunt is much used in composition, as blunt-edged, blunt-sighted, blunt-spoken. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Obtuse; dull; pointless; curt; short; coarse; rude; brusque; impolite; uncivil. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blunted; p. pr. & vb. n. Blunting. ] 1. To dull the edge or point of, by making it thicker; to make blunt. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To repress or weaken, as any appetite, desire, or power of the mind; to impair the force, keenness, or susceptibility, of; as, to blunt the feelings. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A fencer's foil. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A short needle with a strong point. See Needle. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Money. [ Cant ] Beaconsfield. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. made dull or blunt.
Syn. -- dulled. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. reduced in force or effectiveness. [ PJC ]

a. Somewhat blunt. -- Blunt"ish*ness, n. [1913 Webster]

adv. In a blunt manner; coarsely; plainly; abruptly; without delicacy, or the usual forms of civility. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sometimes after bluntly giving his opinions, he would quietly lay himself asleep until the end of their deliberations. Jeffrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Want of edge or point; dullness; obtuseness; lack of sharpness. [ 1913 Webster ]

The multitude of elements and bluntness of angles. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Abruptness of address; rude plainness. “Bluntness of speech.” Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Dull; stupid. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blunt-witted lord, ignoble in demeanor! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ From Involuntary. ] In an involuntary manner; not voluntarily; not intentionally or willingly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being involuntary; unwillingness; automatism. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. involuntarius. See In- not, and Voluntary. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Not having will or the power of choice. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not under the influence or control of the will; not voluntary; as, the involuntary movements of the body; involuntary muscle fibers. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Not proceeding from choice; done unwillingly; reluctant; compulsory; as, involuntary submission.

n. [ D. lont; akin to Dan. & G. lunte, Sw. lunta. Cf. Link a torch. ] 1. The match cord formerly used in firing cannon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A puff of smoke. [ Scotch. ] Burns. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Involuntary. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a voluntary manner; of one's own will; spontaneously. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being voluntary; spontaneousness; specifically, the quality or state of being free in the exercise of one's will. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Philosophy) Any theory which conceives will to be the dominant factor in experience or in the constitution of the world; -- contrasted with intellectualism. Schopenhauer and Fichte are typical exponents of the two types of metaphysical voluntarism, Schopenhauer teaching that the evolution of the universe is the activity of a blind and irrational will, Fichte holding that the intelligent activity of the ego is the fundamental fact of reality. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. The principle or practice of depending on volunteers to support institutions or perform some desired action. [ PJC ]

3. A political philosophy opposed to dependence on governmental action or support for social services that might be performed by private groups. [ PJC ]

a. [ L. voluntarius, fr. voluntas will, choice, from the root of velle to will, p. pr. volens; akin to E. will: cf. F. volontaire, Of. also voluntaire. See Will, v. t., and cf. Benevolent, Volition, Volunteer. ] 1. Proceeding from the will; produced in or by an act of choice. [ 1913 Webster ]

That sin or guilt pertains exclusively to voluntary action is the true principle of orthodoxy. N. W. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Unconstrained by the interference of another; unimpelled by the influence of another; not prompted or persuaded by another; done of his or its own accord; spontaneous; acting of one's self, or of itself; free. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our voluntary service he requires. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

She fell to lust a voluntary prey. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Done by design or intention; intentional; purposed; intended; not accidental; as, if a man kills another by lopping a tree, it is not voluntary manslaughter. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Physiol.) Of or pertaining to the will; subject to, or regulated by, the will; as, the voluntary motions of an animal, such as the movements of the leg or arm (in distinction from involuntary motions, such as the movements of the heart); the voluntary muscle fibers, which are the agents in voluntary motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Endowed with the power of willing; as, man is a voluntary agent. [ 1913 Webster ]

God did not work as a necessary, but a voluntary, agent, intending beforehand, and decreeing with himself, that which did outwardly proceed from him. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Law) Free; without compulsion; according to the will, consent, or agreement, of a party; without consideration; gratuitous; without valuable consideration. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Eccl.) Of or pertaining to voluntaryism; as, a voluntary church, in distinction from an established or state church. [ 1913 Webster ]

Voluntary affidavit or
Voluntary oath (Law), an affidavit or oath made in an extrajudicial matter. --
Voluntary conveyance (Law), a conveyance without valuable consideration. --
Voluntary escape (Law), the escape of a prisoner by the express consent of the sheriff. --
Voluntary jurisdiction. (Eng. Eccl. Law) See Contentious jurisdiction, under Contentious. --
Voluntary waste. (Law) See Waste, n., 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Spontaneous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Voluntaries 1. One who engages in any affair of his own free will; a volunteer. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mus.) A piece played by a musician, often extemporarily, according to his fancy; specifically, an organ solo played before, during, or after divine service. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Eccl.) One who advocates voluntaryism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Eccl.) The principle of supporting a religious system and its institutions by voluntary association and effort, rather than by the aid or patronage of the state. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. volontaire. See Voluntary, a. ] 1. One who enters into, or offers for, any service of his own free will. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mil.) One who enters into service voluntarily, but who, when in service, is subject to discipline and regulations like other soldiers; -- opposed to conscript; specifically, a voluntary member of the organized militia of a country as distinguished from the standing army. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) A grantee in a voluntary conveyance; one to whom a conveyance is made without valuable consideration; a party, other than a wife or child of the grantor, to whom, or for whose benefit, a voluntary conveyance is made. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A plant, especially a flowering plant in a garden, that appears spontaneously without having been intentionally planted. [ RDH ]

a. Of or pertaining to a volunteer or volunteers; consisting of volunteers; voluntary; as, volunteer companies; volunteer advice. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Volunteered p. pr. & vb. n. Volunteering. ] To offer or bestow voluntarily, or without solicitation or compulsion; as, to volunteer one's services. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To enter into, or offer for, any service of one's own free will, without solicitation or compulsion; as, he volunteered in that undertaking. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A navy of vessels fitted out and manned by volunteers who sail under the flag of the regular navy and subject to naval discipline. Prussia in 1870, in the Franco-German war, organized such a navy, which was commanded by merchant seamen with temporary commissions, with the claim (in which England acquiesced) that it did not come within the meaning of the term privateer. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A religious and philanthropic organization, similar to the Salvation Army, founded (1896) by Commander and Mrs. Ballington Booth. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. Tennessee; -- a nickname. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]