1.a dumb person taking a dose of bitter medicine -- suffering humiliation, insults, etc.; a mute victim; inarticulate misery; in silence to suffer injury, damages, etc.; like a dumb man in silence, for to speak out would be to one's disadvantage, embarrassment or would even lead to the loss of face, etc.; swallow a bitter pill in silence; like a dumb person tasting the rhizome of Chinese goldthread; (be compelled to) suffer in silence