sound Hear it!

sound¹ Definition

sound (so̵und)

noun

    1. vibrations in air, water, etc. that stimulate the auditory nerves and produce the sensation of hearing: although the speed of sound varies considerably, the standard is c. 331 meters per second (c. 740 mph), which is the speed in dry air at STP
    2. the auditory sensation produced by such vibrations
    1. any auditory effect that is distinctive or characteristic of its source; identifiable noise, tone, vocal utterance, etc. the sound of a violin, a speech sound
    2. such effects as transmitted by or recorded for radio, TV, films, or on phonograph records
    3. the volume or quality of transmitted or recorded sound
  1. the distance within which a given sound may be heard; earshot within sound of the bells
  2. the mental impression produced by the way something is worded; tenor; drift the sound of his report
  3. meaningless noise; racket
  4. Archaic
    1. report; rumor
    2. meaning; significance

Etymology: < ME soun (+ unhistoric -d) < OFr son < L sonus < IE *swonos, a sound, noise < base *swen-, to sound > OE swinsian, to sing, make music

intransitive verb

  1. to make a sound or sounds
  2. to have a particular tone or quality of sound your voice sounds hoarse
  3. to seem, from the sound or manner of utterance to sound troubled
  4. to seem to be or appear to be, based on information one has heard their plan sounds crazy

Etymology: ME sounen < OFr soner < L sonare

transitive verb

    1. to cause to sound to sound a gong
    2. to produce the sound of to sound a C on a piano
    3. to utter distinctly; articulate to sound one's r's
  1. to express, signal, indicate, or announce the clock sounds the hour
  2. to make widely known; proclaim to sound someone's praises
  3. to examine (the chest) by auscultation or percussion

sound¹ Idioms

sound off

    1. to speak in turn, as in counting off for a military formation
    2. to count cadence in marching
  1. Slang
    1. to give voice freely to opinions, complaints, etc.
    2. to speak in a loud or offensive way, as in boasting
sound² Definition

sound (so̵und)

adjective

  1. free from defect, damage, or decay; whole and in good condition sound timber
  2. normal and healthy; not weak, diseased, or impaired a sound body and mind
    1. firm and safe; stable; secure a sound alliance
    2. safe and secure financially a sound bank
  3. based on truth or valid reasoning; accurate, reliable, judicious, sensible, etc. sound advice
  4. agreeing with established views or beliefs; not heterodox sound doctrine
  5. thorough, solid, substantial, forceful, etc. a sound defeat
  6. deep and undisturbed: said of sleep
  7. morally strong; honest, honorable, loyal, etc.
  8. legally valid a sound title to a property

Etymology: ME < OE (ge)sund, akin to Dan sund, Ger (ge)sund < Gmc *swintha-, strong > OE swith

adverb

completely; deeply sound asleep

sound² Related Forms
soundly adverb sound·ness noun
sound³ Definition

sound (so̵und)

noun

  1. a wide channel or strait linking two large bodies of water or separating an island from the mainland
  2. a long inlet or arm of the sea
  3. the swim bladder of certain fishes

Etymology: ME < OE sund, a swimming, water, strait & ON sund, both < base *swem- > swim

sound4 Definition

sound (so̵und)

transitive verb

    1. to measure the depth or various depths of (water or a body of water), esp. with a weighted line
    2. to measure (depth) in this way
    3. to investigate or examine (the bottom of the sea, etc.) with a weighted line that brings up adhering particles
    4. to probe (the atmosphere or space) so as to gain data
    1. to investigate, examine, or try to find out (a person's opinions)
    2. to try to find out the opinions or feelings of (a person), as by roundabout questioning: often with out
  1. Med. to examine with a sound, or probe

Etymology: ME sounden < MFr sonder < VL subundare, to submerge < L sub, under + unda, a wave: see water

intransitive verb

  1. to sound water or a body of water
  2. to dive suddenly downward through the water: said esp. of whales or large fish
  3. to try to find out something, as by roundabout questioning

noun

Med. a long probe used in examining body cavities

Sound Definition

Sound (so̵und)

Öresund

sound Synonyms

sound

modif.

  1. Healthy

    hale, hearty, well; see healthy 1.

  2. Firm

    solid, stable, safe; see reliable 2.

  3. Sensible

    reasonable, rational, prudent; see judicious.

  4. Free from defect

    flawless, unimpaired, undecayed; see whole 2.

  5. Proper

    valid, allowed, fair, sanctioned, orthodox; see also legal 1, valid 1, 2.

  6. Deep

    deep, intellectual, thoughtful, soulful; see profound 2.

  7. Complete

    thorough, effectual, total; see absolute 1.

  8. Trustworthy

    dependable, loyal, true; see faithful, reliable 1. See syn. study at valid.

sound Synonyms

sound

n.

  1. Something audible

    vibration, din, racket; see noise 1.

  2. The quality of something audible

    noise, resonance, note, timbre, tone, music, pitch, intonation, accent, tonality, tenor, sonorousness, character, quality, softness, loudness, reverberating, reverberation, sonority, ringing, mournfulness, joyousness, lightness, assonance, amplification, vibration, modulation, sweetness, harshness, discord, consonance, harmony.

  3. Water between an island and the mainland

    strait, bay, bight; see channel 2.

sound Synonyms

sound

v.

  1. To make a noise

    vibrate, echo, resound, reverberate, give out sound, shout, sing, whisper, murmur, clatter, clank, rattle, blow, blare, bark, ring out, detonate, explode, thunder, emit sound, spread sound, buzz, gabble, rumble, hum, jabber, jangle, jar, whine, crash, bang, reflect, burst, boom, shrill, clitter, ruckle, chatter, creak, clang, crack, crackle, snap, roar, babble, clap, patter, prattle, clink, toot, cackle, clack, thud, slam, smash, blast, thump, snort, shriek, moan, play, quaver, trumpet, croak, caw, quack, squawk.

  2. To measure

    rule, mark, gauge, fathom, plumb; see also examine 2, measure 1.

  3. To seem

    appear, give the impression, appear to be; see seem.

  4. To pronounce

    articulate, enunciate, verbalize; see say, utter.

sound Law Definition

adj

In good health, both physically and mentally (sound of body and mind); marketable (property); undamaged, form taken by a document, as in “the complaint sounds in negligence.”
sound Usage Examples

Object

  • knell: I hope that this latest revelation may finally sound the death knell for our wasteful trips to Strasbourg.
  • alarm: This was something about which they should have been sounding the alarm.
  • bit: Sounds a bit depressing, wouldn't you say?

Converse of object

  • hear: Initial tests are based on the child's ability to hear a few sounds made by the assessor.
  • surround: The living room couch and surround sound are not the same as being there.

Converse of subject

  • awake: Having got off to sleep at about midnight it was 5.30 in the morning as I was awoken by the sounds of life outside.

Adjective modifier

  • distinctive: The harp or clarsach brings its distinctive dream-like sound.
  • stereo: After the easy to handle software installation one is ready to receive analog television in excellent image quality and with adequate stereo sound.
  • ambient: There are 9 platforms, so that make 144 extra ambient sounds available to you.

Modifies a noun

  • recording: Works of the mind include: literary, dramatic, musical and artistic material; sound recordings, films, broadcasts and cable programs.
  • effect: Sound design and sound effects come across very nice, too.
  • wave: The reflected sound waves are used to create an image on a screen, showing exactly what's going on inside the body.
  • clip: To edit the beginning and end of sound clips precisely, use a larger magnification on the timeline.
  • quality: The Dualit digital kitchen radio offers the most advanced sound quality.
  • bite: The Lost 45s features America's largest record library, as well as the largest library of interviews and sound bites found anywhere.

Adjective complement

  • familiar: What now sounds familiar was honed in the States in the 1950s.

Noun used with modifier

  • vowel: We were told to teach first initial then final sounds and then medial vowel sounds.
  • guitar: I dont think I have ever heard a guitar sound like that on any other record.
  • bass: It worked really well, giving a nice bass sound, and since then I've been using it for the same set at gigs.
  • stereo: Then there's the consideration that you might want to pipe stereo sound to various rooms.
sound Quotes

   Adding sound tomovies would be like putting lipstickon theVenus de Milo.

—Pickford, Mary originally  Gladys Mary Smith

Still to be neat, still to be drest, As you were going to a feast; Still to be powdered, still perfumed, Lady, it is to be presumed, Though art's hid causes are not found, All is not sweet, all is not sound. Give me a look, give me a face, That makes simplicity a grace; Robes loosely flowing, hair as free: Such sweet neglect more taketh me, Than all the adulteries of art; They strike mine eyes, but not my heart.

—Jonson, Ben

Money is indeed the most important thing in the world: and all sound and successful personal and national morality should have this fact for its basis.

—Shaw, George Bernard

Better than all measures Of delightful sound, Better than all treasures That in books are found, Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe

   He nursed the feelings these dull scenes produce, And loved to stop beside the opening sluice; Where the small stream, confined in narrow bound, Ran with a dull, unvaried, sad'ning sound; Where all presented to the eye or ear, Oppressed the soul! with misery, grief, and fear.

—Crabbe, George

He has ears he likes to bathe in sound.

—Brown,John Mason

We should never make a god out of form.We should struggle for form onlyas long as it serves as a means of expression for the inner sound.

—Kandinsky,Wassily

   Hark, the glad sound! The Saviour comes, The Saviour promised long; Let every heart exult with joy, And every voice be song!

—Doddridge, Philip

When a book and a head collide and a hollow sound is heard, must it always have come from the book?

—Lichtenberg, Georg Christoph

What calls me is that lifted, rough-tongued bell (Art, if you like) whose individual sound Insists I too am an individual.

—Larkin, Philip Arthur

The last sound on the worthless earthwill be two human beings trying to launch a homemade spaceship and already quarreling about where theyare going next.

—Faulkner,William Harrison

   Leonora, Leonora, How the word rollsöLeonoraö Lion-like, in full-mouthed sound, Marching o'er the metric ground With a tawny tread sublime; So your name moves, Leonora, Down my desert rhyme.

—Craik, Dinah Maria ne¤  e Mulock

The sailing pine, the cedar proud and tall, The vine-prop elm, the poplar never dry, The builder oak, sole king of forests all, The aspen good for staves, the cypress funeral. The laurel, meed of mighty conquerors And poets sage, the fir that weepeth still, The willow worn of forlorn paramours, The ewe obedient to the benders will, The birch for shafts, the sallow for the mill, The myrrh sweet bleeding in the bitter wound, The warlike beech, the ash for nothing ill, The fruitful olive, and the platan round, The carver holme, the maple seldom inward sound.

—Spenser, Edmund

The most persistent sound that reverberates through men's history is the beating of war drums.

—Koestler, Arthur

No sound is dissonant which tells of life.

—Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

Ithink for my part one half of the nation ismadöand the other not very sound.

—Smollett,Tobias George

A sentence is a sound in itself on which sounds called words may be strung.

—Frost, Robert Lee

I have been here before, But when or how I cannot tell: I know the grass beyond the door, The sweet keen smell, The sighing sound, the lights around the shore.

—Rossetti, Dante Gabriel

Silence has a sound, and the sound is 'no.'

—Koh, Harold Hongju

A'sound' banker, alas! is not one who foresees danger and avoidsit, but onewho, whenheisruined, isruined in a conventional and orthodox wayalong with his fellows, so that no one can really blame him.

—Keynes (of Tilton),John Maynard, 1st Baron

Just as a stone flung into the water becomes the centre and cause of many circles, and as sound diffuses itself in circles in the air; so any object, placed in the luminous atmosphere, diffuses itself in circles, and fills the surrounding air with infinite images of itself.

—Leonardo daVinci

On a poet's lips I slept Dreaming like a love-adept In the sound his breathing kept.

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe

How have you left the ancient love That bards of old enjoyed in you! The sound is forced, the notes are few!

—Blake,William

The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament sheweth his handywork.One day telleth another: and one night certifieth another. There is neither speech nor language: but their voices are heard among them. Their sound isgone out into all lands: and their words into the ends of the world.

—Book of Common Prayer

Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano. One should pray to have a sound mind in a sound body.

—Juvenal full name Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis

True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move easiest who have learned to dance. 'Tis not enough no harshness gives offence, The sound must seem an echo to the sense.

—Pope, Alexander

There is a sound of abundance of rain.

—Bible (Old Testament)

Seated one day at the organ, I was weary and ill at ease, And my fingers wandered idly Over the noisy keys; I know not what I was playing, Or what I was dreaming then, But I struck one chord of music, Like the sound of a great Amen.

—Proctor, Adelaide Ann pseudonym of  Mary Berwick

Shall I tell you the signs of a New Age coming? It is a sound of drubbing and sobbing Of people crying,We are old, we are old And the sun isgoing down and becoming cold.

—Smith, Stevie (Florence Margaret)

   The Sound of Surprise.

—Balliett,Whitney

The fellows were practising long shies and bowling lobs and slow twisters. In the soft grey silence he could hear the bump of the balls: and from here and from there through the quiet air the sound of the cricket bats: pick, pack, pock, puck: like drops of water in a fountain falling softly in the brimming bowl.

—Joyce,James Augustine Aloysius

You have heard the sound of the white soldier's axe on the Little Piney. His presence here is†an insult to the spirits of our ancestors. Are we to give up their sacred graves to be ploughed for corn? Dakotas, I am for war.

—Red Cloud original name Mahpiua Luta

I dreamed that, as I wandered by the way, Bare Winter suddenly was changed to Spring, And gentle odours led my steps astray, Mixed with a sound of water's murmuring Along a shelving bankof turf, which lay Under a copse, and hardly dared to fling Its green arms round the bosom of the stream, But kissed it and then fled, as thou mightst in dream.

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe

There was a sound of revelry by night, And Belgium's capital had gathered then Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Foul as their soil, and frigid as their snows. The lamps that shone o'er fair women and brave men; A thousand hearts beat happily; and when Music arose with its voluptuous swell, Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again, And all went merryas a marriage bell; But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell!

—Rochdale

The dripping blood our only drink, The bloody flesh our only food: In spite of which we like to think That we are sound, substantial flesh and bloodö Again, in spite of that, we call this Friday good. 308

—Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.

—Newton,John

Universitas in modo citharae sit disposita, in qua diversa genera in modo chordarum sit consonantia. The universe is arranged like a cithera, in which different kinds of things sound together harmoniously, just as they do in a chord.

—Honorius of Autun

Sweet is every sound, Sweeter thy voice, but every sound is sweet; Myriads of rivulets hurrying through the lawn, The moan of doves in immemorial elms, With murmuring of innumerable bees.

—Tennyson

If his thinking has been sound, then this world is at the end of its tether. The end of everything we call life is close at hand and cannot be evaded.

—Wells, H(erbert) G(eorge)

In arguing too, the parson owned his skill, For e'en though vanquished, he could argue still; While words of learned length, and thund'ring sound Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around, And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew, That one small head could carry all he knew.

—Goldsmith, Oliver

With twelve great shocks of sound, the shameless noon 840 Was clashed and hammered from a hundred towers.

—Tennyson

In the early morning the mill girls clumping down the cobbled street, all in clogs, making a curiously formidable sound, like an army hurrying into battle. I suppose this is the typical sound of Lancashire.

—Orwell, George pseudonym of  Eric Arthur Blair

Moscow†what surge that sound can start In every Russian's inmost heart!

—Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeyevich

Before I taught my tongue to wound My conscience with a sinful sound, Or had the black art to dispense A several sin to every sense, But felt through all this fleshly dress Bright shoots of everlastingness.

—Vaughan, Henry