How to Use numb in a Sentence

numb

1 of 2 adjective
  • A stroke can cause one side of your body to go numb.
  • The side of my face was still numb an hour after the surgery.
  • Her son had died and she just felt numb.
  • He stood there numb with fear.
  • I had a numb feeling in my toes.
  • It was so cold that my fingers went numb.
  • By now, both of my feet were numb, even on top.
    — Scott Haugen, Outdoor Life, 13 Aug. 2025
  • And just like that, Sam is numb again.
    — Olivia Singh, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • So, like, the top of my ass, that skin part is numb.
    — Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 24 Sep. 2025
  • So, like, the top of my ass, that skin part is numb.
    — Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 8 Dec. 2025
  • Fans are numb to these sorts of stories.
    — Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Like, like my legs are going numb.
    — Outside Online, 7 Jan. 2026
  • The numb fans in the stands hadn’t seen such a loss in a very long time.
    — Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle, 19 Mar. 2023
  • Her hands would burn or go numb; her skin glittered with pain.
    — Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
  • Then my face went numb, like pins and needles when a limb falls asleep.
    — Will Rice, Outside, 13 Nov. 2025
  • Rob yelled into the wind that his toes were growing numb.
    — Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2025
  • The body slows down and starts to become numb in severe cold.
    — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 24 Jan. 2026
  • There will always be a numb area above and behind my left ear.
    — Mike Masterson, Arkansas Online, 17 Jan. 2023
  • The bullet hit close to his spine, leaving his legs numb.
    — Luca Evans, Denver Post, 21 June 2026
  • For a split second, my hearing went numb.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Want to book a stay and take so many photos your fingers go numb?
    — Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 23 Aug. 2021
  • My body goes numb in the cold water and a sense of calm settles in.
    — David Schechter, Haley Rush, CBS News, 21 Feb. 2023
  • Both feet were numb for several months.
    — Scott Haugen, Outdoor Life, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Is one side of the face drooping or numb, or is the smile uneven?
    — Serena Coady, SELF, 28 Apr. 2022
  • This time Sturino woke to find the right side of her face was numb.
    — Bykristine Gill, Fortune, 23 Nov. 2022
  • Her anxiety spiked, her heart thumped out of her chest, and her left arm went numb.
    — Stephen Noonoo, The New Republic, 2 May 2022
  • How numb have the Nuggets gotten to those injuries?
    — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 6 Feb. 2026
  • During Covid, the world felt numb and dystopian.
    — Kim Gordon, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Both feet were totally numb except for the very tops, which did no good.
    — Scott Haugen, Outdoor Life, 13 Aug. 2025
  • In other words, cough pearls numb your airways to calm the cough reflex.
    — Ayana Underwood, SELF, 7 Feb. 2024

numb

2 of 2 verb
  • Bronze just needed to numb the pain.
    — Charlotte Harpur, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025
  • The wind might numb my face, but my hands felt warm enough in their leather work gloves.
    — William T. Vollmann, Harper's Magazine, 16 Oct. 2023
  • Some people numb their pain with substances.
    — Jane Marie Chen, Time, 10 Oct. 2025
  • While there, doctors used numbing eye drops and were able to pry her eye open.
    — Vanessa Etienne, Peoplemag, 12 June 2023
  • If the skin tag is thick and large, your derm may just numb the area and snip it off instead.
    — Chloe Metzger, Allure, 15 Dec. 2023
  • Put your hand on a hot stove and your body will quickly release a squirt to numb the pain.
    — Karen Weintraub, USA Today, 11 Dec. 2022
  • The pins went through the scalp and were docked on the surface of her skull with numbing cream.
    — Charlotte Observer, 2 Oct. 2025
  • This shift is strangely numbing.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
  • This is the type of consistency that numbs fans from their love of the game.
    — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 18 Jan. 2026
  • This is the type of consistency that numbs fans from their love of the game.
    — Chicago Tribune, 20 Jan. 2026
  • At the urgent care unit, the area was numbed and a small incision was made.
    — Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
  • That is because numbing and restoration are not the same.
    — Maia Niguel Hoskin, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
  • The pain can last for hours and may numb your fingers, bare feet or other areas of your body.
    — Tom MacCubbin, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2026
  • And there are ways in which people have decided to try to numb the pain of the past that aren’t healthy.
    — Jingnan Peng, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 June 2022
  • Evans also says the anaesthetic did not fully numb her pain.
    — Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 27 Nov. 2025
  • But now Love was an open wound and was numbing her grief in one way or another.
    — Quinn Moreland, Pitchfork, 14 June 2026
  • For the biopsy, she was placed in stirrups and given a spinal epidural to numb the area.
    — Rachel E. Gross, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2022
  • Even after four years of trauma that should numb, shock is still palpable.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Apply it for 10 minutes to numb the itch and reduce swelling.
    — Tiffany Acosta, AZCentral.com, 11 Oct. 2025
  • Apply it for 10 minutes to numb the itch and reduce swelling.
    — Tiffany Acosta, AZCentral.com, 15 Oct. 2025
  • On the spicy side, there were plenty of fragrant, tingly, numbing málà peppers.
    — Charlotte Observer, 7 May 2026
  • What started as using to numb the pain after a few years became using against my will.
    — Rita Omokha, ELLE, 14 Dec. 2022
  • Don’t numb your psychic wounds, but also don’t over-catastrophize.
    — Karen Magruder, The Conversation, 18 Sep. 2023
  • This breed is reportedly known to numb its prey before laying eggs.
    — Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 28 Nov. 2023
  • Ross described battling suicidal thoughts and reaching for drugs to numb the pain.
    — Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 8 Dec. 2022
  • For those who have been putting it off, an investment in Henry Schein could help numb the pain.
    — Justin Lahart, WSJ, 24 Aug. 2022
  • On the day of the surgery, a member of the medical team will numb the donor area (usually the back of the head).
    — Ethan Stone, USA Today, 20 Feb. 2026
  • Once numbing kicks in, most patients describe the day as straightforward.
    — Nia Bowers, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
  • This can be done in a healthcare provider's office with topical medicine to numb the affected area.
    — Dr. Roshini Raj, Health, 26 May 2023
  • And if not medication to calm the nerves, then novocaine to numb the discomfort.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'numb.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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