sounding

A test made with a probe or sonde.

Adjective

  1. Emitting a sound.
    • The sounding bell woke me up.
  2. Sonorous.
    • sounding words - 1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):
    • In her tomb by the sounding sea. - 1849, Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee:

Origin

Etymology tree English sound English -ing English sounding From sound (“produce a sound”) + -ing.

Derived

soundingly soundingness unsounding

Noun Entry 2

  1. A test made with a probe or sonde.
    • Soundings showed wide variations in depths of water, and from the dredgings of the bottom came new types of sediment […] - 2011, John P. Rafferty, Oceans and Oceanography, page 189:
    • Morning sounding at Chatham showed dry adiabatic lapse rate all the way to 700 mb this morning […] - 2020 June 25, National Weather Service Boston 9:52 AM forecast discussion
  2. A measured depth of water.
    • The sailor took a sounding every five minutes
  3. Any place or part of the ocean, or other water, where a sounding line will reach the bottom.
    • We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas; Until we strike soundings in the Channel of old England - a. 1840, Spanish Ladies (naval song, chorus)
  4. The sand, shells, etc. brought up by the sounding lead when it has touched bottom.
  5. The act of inserting of a thin metal rod into the urethra of the penis for medical or sexual purposes.(See urethral sounding).

Origin

Etymology tree English sound English -ing English sounding From sound (“measure depths”) + -ing.

Forms

soundings

Derived

co-sounding echo sounding high-sounding radio sounding sounding balloon sounding board sounding-board sounding line sounding machine sounding rocket sounding rod sounding stone sounding-stone

Noun Entry 3

  1. The action of the verb to sound.
    • And thus did the trumpets sound one-and-twenty blasts every day; […] three soundings at the three pausings of the music, […] - c. 1650, John Lightfoot, The Temple-Service:
    • In the course of his soundings, Sir Herbert Walker had heard favourable reports of O.V.S. Bulleid, currently Principal Assistant to Gresley on the LNER. - 1979 August, Graham Burtenshaw, Michael S. Welch, “O.V.S....

Forms

soundings

Verb

  1. present participle and gerund of sound
    • Little Mary was sounding very sleepy, so I tucked her in bed.
    • "Assist"'s sense ‘to be present (at a ceremony, entertainment, etc.)’, now uncommon and sounding affected, is a Gallicism.