<B>sound</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>that which is or can be heard; sensation perceived in the organs of hearing by vibrations transmitted through the air or some other medium. <BR> <I>Ex. The birds fill the woods with tuneful sound.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the energy in the form of vibrations causing this sensation. Sound travels through air in waves about 1,100 feet (335 meters) per second under normal conditions of pressure and temperature. <DD><B> 3. </B>a noise, note, or tone, whose quality indicates its source or nature. <BR> <I>Ex. the sound of music, the sound of thunder, the sound of a baby.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the distance within which a noise can be heard; earshot. <BR> <I>Ex. ... in sound of the swallowing sea (Matthew Arnold).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>one of the simple elements that make up speech, produced by a single position, movement, or set of movements of the vocal organs of the speaker. <BR> <I>Ex. a vowel sound.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) the effect produced on the mind by what is heard. <BR> <I>Ex. a warning sound, a queer sound. Your predictions have a hopeful sound.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>mere noise, without meaning or importance. <BR> <I>Ex. A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Archaic.) a report or rumor; news; tidings. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to make a sound or noise. <BR> <I>Ex. The wind sounds like an animal howling. The alarm began to sound. The whistle of the locomotive ... sounding like the scream of a hawk sailing over some farmer's yard (Thoreau).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to be pronounced. <BR> <I>Ex. "Rough" and "ruff" sound just alike.</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>to be heard, as a sound. <BR> <I>Ex. Her voice sounds shrill. As if the words of an oracle sounded in his ears (Scott).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to issue or pass as sound. <BR> <I>Ex. From you sounded out the word of the Lord (I Thesalonians 1:8).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>to be mentioned. <BR> <I>Ex. Wherever I went my name sounded (Benjamin Disraeli).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to be filled with sound; resound. <BR> <I>Ex. The street sounds to the soldiers' tread (A. E. Housman).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to summon. <BR> <I>Ex. The trumpet sounds for battle.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) to give an impression or idea; seem; appear. <BR> <I>Ex. That excuse sounds peculiar. Your story sounds improbable.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>to make a sound, as on an instrument. <BR> <I>Ex. The singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded (II Chronicles 29:28).</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Law.) to be capable of measurement in money for damages. <BR> <I>Ex. The action sounds in damages.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to cause to make a sound. <BR> <I>Ex. Sound the trumpets; beat the drums (Thomas Morell).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to give forth (a sound). <BR> <I>Ex. When winter's roar Sounded o'er earth and sea its blast of war (Shelley).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to announce, order, or direct by a sound. <BR> <I>Ex. Sound the retreat. I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world (Walt Whitman).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to pronounce or express; say so one can hear. <BR> <I>Ex. to sound each syllable.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to make known; announce; utter. <BR> <I>Ex. The trumpets sounded the call to battle. Everyone sounded his praises.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>to celebrate; honor. <BR> <I>Ex. Nations unborn your mighty names shall sound (Alexander Pope).</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>to test by noting sounds. <BR> <I>Ex. to sound a person's lungs.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>sound off,</B> (U.S. Informal.) <DD><B> a. </B>to talk frankly or complain loudly. </I> <I>Ex. He would sound off on domestic and international issues as he sees fit (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to give one's name, serial number, or other response, especially in military formations. <BR> <I>Ex. The soldiers sounded off smartly during the inspection.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>within sound,</B> </I>near enough to hear. <BR> <I>Ex. The incoming train was within sound when we reached the railroad station.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sound">
<B>sound</B> (2), adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>free from disease; healthy. <BR> <I>Ex. a sound body, a sound mind.</I> (SYN) robust. <DD><B> 2. </B>free from injury, decay, or defect; in good condition. <BR> <I>Ex. sound walls, a sound ship, sound fruit.</I> (SYN) uninjured, intact, flawless. <DD><B> 3. </B>financially strong; safe; secure. <BR> <I>Ex. sound investments, sound credit, a sound business firm.</I> <DD><B> 4a. </B>solid; massive; compact. <BR> <I>Ex. sound rock, a sound foundation.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>substantial, ample, or thorough. <BR> <I>Ex. a sound recovery, a sound investigation.</I> <DD><B> 5a. </B>in accord with or based on fact, reason, or good sense; correct; right; reasonable; good. <BR> <I>Ex. sound advice, sound religious teaching, a sound objection, sound judgment. Remarks as sound as they are acute and ingenious (Edmund Burke).</I> (SYN) just. <DD><B> b. </B>well-grounded in principles or knowledge; well-informed; reliable. <BR> <I>Ex. a sound teacher, a sound critic of music.</I> <DD><B> 6a. </B>morally good; honest; upright. <BR> <I>Ex. No sounder piece of ... manhood was put together in that eighteenth century of time (Thomas Carlyle).</I> (SYN) honorable, straightforward. <DD><B> b. </B>loyal; true; trusty. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the requisites that form a friend, a real and sound one (William Cowper). Old soldiers ... are surest, and old lovers are soundest (John Webster).</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>free from error or logical defect. <BR> <I>Ex. sound reasoning, a sound argument.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>without any legal defects. <BR> <I>Ex. a sound title.</I> <DD><B> 9a. </B>having conventional or orthodox ideas or views. <BR> <I>Ex. politically sound, a sound conservative.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>theologically correct; orthodox. <BR> <I>Ex. He ordinarily preached sound doctrine (John Evelyn).</I> <DD><B> 10. </B>deep; heavy; profound. <BR> <I>Ex. a sound sleep.</I> <DD><B> 11. </B>vigorous; thorough; hearty. <BR> <I>Ex. a sound beating.</I> <DD><I>adv. </I> deeply; profoundly. <BR> <I>Ex. The tired boy slept long and sound.</I> (SYN) thoroughly. </DL>
<A NAME="sound">
<B>sound</B> (3), verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1a. </B>to measure the depth of (water) by letting down a weight fastened on the end of a line, or by some other means; fathom. <BR> <I>Ex. to sound the channel in order to keep a boat in deep water.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to measure (depth) in this way. <DD><B> 2. </B>to examine or test (the bottom of the sea or other body of water) especially with a line arranged to bring up a sample. <BR> <I>Ex. to sound the bay for specimens of marine life.</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>to try to find out the views or feelings of; test; examine; investigate. <BR> <I>Ex. We sounded Mother on the subject of a picnic.</I> (SYN) probe. <DD><B> b. </B>to seek to find out (as a person's views or opinions). <BR> <I>Ex. Cardinal Granvelle was instructed to sound the disposition of Francis (James A. Froude).</I> (SYN) probe. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Medicine.) to examine with a sound (instrument). <BR> <I>Ex. to sound the bladder.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to use a sounding device, such as a line and weight, to determine depth or the nature of the bottom of the sea. <BR> <I>Ex. Men went overboard with pails ... sounding for deeper water (Daniel Defoe).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to sink and reach bottom, as the weight on a line does. <DD><B> 3. </B>to go toward the bottom; dive. <BR> <I>Ex. Some ... whales sound to great depths in their search for food (Raymond M. Gilmore).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to make inquiry or investigation. <BR> <I>Ex. His thoughts ... had sounded into the depths of his own nature (Thomas Carlyle).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> (Medicine.) a long, slender instrument used in examining body cavities. </DL>
<A NAME="sound">
<B>sound</B> (4), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>long, narrow strip of water joining two larger bodies of water, or between the mainland and an island. <BR> <I>Ex. Long Island Sound.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an inlet or arm of the sea. <BR> <I>Ex. Puget Sound.</I> (SYN) firth. </DL>
<A NAME="sound">
<B>sound</B> (5), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a sac in fishes, containing air or gas, that helps them in floating; air bladder. </DL>
<A NAME="soundable">
<B>soundable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be sounded. </DL>
<A NAME="soundandlight">
<B>sound-and-light, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having to do with the combined use of light effects and recorded sound. <BR> <I>Ex. a sound-and-light discotheque.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>having to do with son et lumiere. <BR> <I>Ex. a sound-and-light show.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="soundandlight">
<B>sound and light,</B> <B>=son et lumiere.</B></DL>
<A NAME="soundbarrier">
<B>sound barrier,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a point near the speed of sound (about 1,100 feet or 335 meters per second in air at sea level) at which an aircraft or projectile meets a sudden increase in air resistance and creates a shock wave; sonic barrier. This point is viewed as a barrier separating subsonic from supersonic speed. </DL>
<A NAME="soundbite">
<B>sound bite,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small piece of film or videotape that captures the highlight of a speech, scene, or event. <BR> <I>Ex. Shot and edited on video ... the nightly news reduces speakers to pithy sound bites (Vanity Fair).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="soundboard">
<B>soundboard, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a thin, resonant piece of wood forming part of a musical instrument such as a violin or piano, to increase the fullness of its tone. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=sounding board </B>(def. 1). </DL>
<A NAME="soundbow">
<B>sound bow,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the thickest part of a bell, against which the clapper strikes. </DL>
<A NAME="soundbox">
<B>soundbox, </B>noun, or <B>sound box,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a hollow part of a musical instrument, as of a violin or harp, for strengthening the sonority of its tone; sounding box. <DD><B> 2. </B>the part of a phonograph holding the sound-reproducing apparatus. </DL>
<A NAME="soundeffects">
<B>sound effects,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> sounds, as of thunder, blows, animals, or traffic, imitated by various devices or reproduced by recordings as part of the background of a play, motion picture, radio or television production, or the like. </DL>
<A NAME="sounder">
<B>sounder</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that makes a sound or causes something to sound. <DD><B> 2. </B>an electromagnetic receiving instrument that converts a telegraphic message into sound. </DL>
<A NAME="sounder">
<B>sounder</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person or thing that measures the depth of water. </DL>
<A NAME="soundfilm">
<B>sound film,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a motion-picture film with a sound track. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=sound motion picture.</B> </DL>
