to sound
- verb
- /saʊnd/
- Specialized
- When it detects unsafe conditions, it prohibits the operation of affected valves and sounds an alarm.
Examples
-
The sailor used a weighted rope to sound the depth of the harbor before anchoring.
-
Children were taught phonemic awareness skills, letter-sound correspondences, sounding out words, and recognition of high-frequency irregular words.
Academic text (2012) -
So now I can sound them in quadrature.
-
Had he witnessed enough to sound the alarm for his own countrymen?
Fiction book (1991) -
I thought perhaps you would like to know they're sounding the all clear in the streets.
-
To ensure safe navigation, the crew decided to sound the waters for any underwater obstructions.
-
Before setting up the buoy, they had to sound the area to check for the optimal depth.
Synonyms
To measure how deep water is using a heavy line
Idioms
- Informal
To keep saying the same complaint again and again until people get annoyed
To enjoy hearing yourself speak while not listening to others
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
- Literature
A short part of a recorded statement on radio or television, often by a politician
- Specialized
A pattern of vibrations that moves through air, water, or solids and carries sound
- Specialized
The point near the speed of sound when a plane feels a sudden push and strong vibration
A large bay of the Pacific Ocean in northwest Washington State with many connected waterways and islands
A stretch of water between Long Island and Connecticut on the US Atlantic coast
A way of thinking or arguing that uses good reasons and evidence to show something is true
- Specialized
An opening in the top of an instrument with strings, like a guitar, that makes its sound louder
- Specialized
An audio system that plays sound very clearly with little distortion
- Specialized
The loudness of the high and low parts of a sound, for example a violin or flute
- Specialized
A set of letters that show speech sounds like the International Phonetic Alphabet
- Specialized
A device that makes pictures showing where sounds come from and how loud they are
- Specialized
A device that makes voices or music sound fuller by copying the original sound
- Specialized
A method of finding where a sound comes from by measuring how long it takes to reach microphones
Surface Forms
Etymology
Sound (verb, 'to measure depth') comes from sailors using a sounding line, a rope with a weight, to check how deep the water is, so to sound is to test the depth.