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dim

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dim bulb

An unintelligent or slow-witted person. I explained this to you not once, but three times! Are you just a dim bulb, or what?

See also: bulb, dim

dim down

[for the lights] to go dim. The lights dimmed down for a few seconds. Open the stage curtain when the house lights dim down.

See also: dim, down

dim out

[for a light] to grow dim and go out altogether. The lights dimmed out twice during the storm. I was afraid that the lights would dim out completely.

See also: dim, out

dim something down

to make lights dim; to use a dimmer to make the lights dimmer. Why don't you dim the lights down and put on some music? Let me dim down the lights and put on some music.

See also: dim, down

dim something up

to use a dimmer to make the lights brighter. (Theatrical. A dimmer is a rheostat, variable transformer, or something similar. The expression, a seeming contradiction, is the opposite of dim something down.) As the curtain rose, the electrician dimmed the lights up on a beautiful scene. You dimmed up the lights too fast.

See also: dim, up

take a dim view of someone or something

to disapprove of someone or something. Of all the boys, the teacher likes Dave the least. She takes a dim view of him. I take a dim view of that law.

See also: dim, of, take, view

take a dim view (of something)

to disapprove of something Most bosses take a dim view of long lunches.

See also: dim, take, view

take a dim view of

Regard disapprovingly, as in I take a dim view of meeting every single week. This idiom, which uses dim in the sense of "unfavorable," was first recorded in 1947

See also: dim, of, take, view

dim

n. the evening; the night. (Streets.) Where’ll you be this dim?

dim bulb

n. a dull person; a stupid person. George seems to be a dim bulb, but he’s a straight-A student.

See also: bulb, dim