Dictionary Definition
stun
Verb
1 make senseless or dizzy by or as if by a blow;
"stun fish" [syn: stupefy]
2 surprise greatly; knock someone's socks off; "I
was floored when I heard that I was promoted" [syn: shock, floor, ball over,
blow
out of the water, take
aback]
3 hit something or somebody as if with a sandbag
[syn: sandbag]
4 overcome as with astonishment or disbelief;
"The news stunned her" [syn: bedaze, daze] [also: stunning, stunned]stunning adj
1 commanding attention; "an arresting drawing of
people turning into animals"; "a sensational concert--one never to
be forgotten"; "a stunning performance" [syn: arresting, sensational]
2 causing great astonishment and consternation;
"the strike came as a stunning protest against management"; "a
stunning defeat"
3 causing or capable of causing bewilderment or
shock or insensibility; "laid the poor fellow senseless with one
stunning blow"; "a stunning detonation with volumes of black
smoke"
4 strikingly beautiful or attractive; "quite
stunning with large dark eyes and a beautiful high-bosomed figure";
"stunning photographs of Canada's wilderness areas"stunning See
stun
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ʌnɪŋ
Adjective
Translations
something that stuns
- Finnish: tyrmäävä
beautiful, pretty
- Finnish: tyrmäävä, upea, ihastuttava
Verb
stunning- present participle of stun
Extensive Definition
Stunning is the process of rendering animals
immobile or unconscious prior to their being slaughtered
for food. This process has been common for centuries in the case of
cattle, who were poleaxed prior to
being bled out. In the United
Kingdom and Europe more widely
the development of stunning technologies occurred largely in the
first half of the twentieth century.
History
Prior to humane slaughter pistols and
electric stunners, pigs,
sheep and other animals
(including cattle) were simply struck while fully conscious. The
belief that this was unnecessarily cruel and painful to the animal
being slaughtered was the rhetorical justification for, in many
countries, the compulsory adoption of stunning methods, almost all
associated with modern technology. The discourse of progress and
humanity in morals and technology were thus intimately intertwined.
The
Humane Slaughter Act of 1933 in Britain, for example, was
specifically conceived not only to make stunning compulsory, but
moreover to make particularly modern incarnations of stunning, such
as the captive
bolt pistol and electric tongs, the means by which it was
achieved. The wording of the 1933 act specifically outlaws the
poleaxe. The period is
marked by the development of various innovations in slaughterhouse
technologies, not all of them particularly long-lasting.
Modern Methods
In modern slaughterhouses a variety of slaughter
methods are used on livestock. Methodes include:
- Electrical stunning
- Gas stunning
- Percussive stunning
Electrical stunning
Electrical stunning is done by applying a current through the brain of the animal before slaughter. An epileptic shock is induced by overloading the neurons, which would render the animal incapable of feeling pain. It is a controversial subject however. With chickens for example, overstunning leads to bone fractures and/or electrocution which prevents bleeding of the animal. This negatively effects the quality of the meat therefore understunning is an attractive practice for slaughterhouses.In the Netherlands for
example, the law states that poultry must be stunned for 4 seconds
minimum with an average current of 100 mA, which leads to
systematic understunning.
Gas stunning
With Gas stunning animals are exposed to a mixture of gases (CO2 for example, but historically CO or mustard gas was used) to suffocate the creatures.Percussive stunning
With Percussive stunning, a device which hits the animal on the head, with or without penetration, is employed. Such devices, such as the captive bolt pistol, can be either pneumatic, or powder-actuated.External links
The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)outlines practical suggestions for humane handling and slaughter of livestock.Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
OK,
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terror-breathing, terror-breeding, terror-bringing, terror-fraught,
terror-giving, terror-inspiring, terror-striking, terrorful, terroristic, top, tough, wizard, wonderful