sound

Primary Meanings of sound

1.	n v	mechanical vibrations transmitted by an elastic medium make a certain noise or sound
2.	v	appear in a certain way
3.	n v	a narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water measure the depth of (a body of water) with a sounding line
4.	adj	in good condition; free from defect or damage or decay
5.	adj	thorough

Full Definitions of sound

n mechanical vibrations transmitted by an elastic medium

“falling trees make a sound in the forest even when no one is there to hear them”

Types:: ultrasound
very high frequency sound; used in ultrasonography

Type of:: mechanical phenomenon
a physical phenomenon associated with the equilibrium or motion of objects

n the subjective sensation of hearing something

“he strained to hear the faint sounds”

Synonyms:: auditory sensation

Types:: show 8 types...; hide 8 types...; euphony, music
any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds; music
(music) the sounds produced by singers or musical instruments (or reproductions of such sounds); pure tone, tone
a steady sound without overtones; dissonance, noise, racket
the auditory experience of sound that lacks musical quality; sound that is a disagreeable auditory experience; dub
the new sounds added by dubbing; piano music
the sound of music produced by a piano; music of the spheres
an inaudible music that Pythagoras thought was produced by the celestial; harmonic
a tone that is a component of a complex sound

Type of:: aesthesis, esthesis, sensation, sense datum, sense experience, sense impression
an unelaborated elementary awareness of stimulation

n the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause

“the sound of rain on the roof”

“the beautiful sound of music”

Antonyms:: quiet, silence
the absence of sound

Types:: show 6 types...; hide 6 types...; noisiness, racketiness
the auditory effect characterized by loud and constant noise; ring
a characteristic sound; unison
(music) two or more sounds or tones at the same pitch or in octaves; voice
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech; androglossia
a woman's voice with male qualities; boisterousness
the property of being noisy and lively and unrestrained

Type of:: sound property
an attribute of sound

n the sudden occurrence of an audible event

“the sound awakened them”

Types:: show 141 types...; hide 141 types...; bong
a dull resonant sound as of a bell; beat
the sound of stroke or blow; beep, bleep
a short high tone produced as a signal or warning; bell, toll
the sound of a bell being struck; bombilation, bombination, buzz
sound of rapid vibration; chink, click, clink
a short light metallic sound; chirp
a sharp sound made by small birds or insects; chirrup, twitter
a series of chirps; chorus
any utterance produced simultaneously by a group; click-clack
a succession of clicks; clip-clop, clippety-clop, clop, clopping, clumping, clunking
the sound of a horse's hoofs hitting on a hard surface; cry
the characteristic utterance of an animal; ding
a ringing sound; drip, dripping
the sound of a liquid falling drop by drop; drum
the sound of a drum; footfall, footstep, step
the sound of a step of someone walking; gargle
the sound produced while gargling; gurgle
the bubbling sound of water flowing from a bottle with a narrow neck; jangle, jingle
a metallic sound; knock, knocking
the sound of knocking (as on a door or in an engine or bearing); murmur, murmuration, murmuring, mussitation, mutter, muttering
a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech; noise
sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound); drum roll, paradiddle, roll
the sound of a drum (especially a snare drum) beaten rapidly and continuously; pat, rap, tap
the sound made by a gentle blow; patter
a quick succession of light rapid sounds; peal, pealing, roll, rolling
a deep prolonged sound (as of thunder or large bells); ping
a sharp high-pitched resonant sound (as of a sonar echo or a bullet striking metal); plunk
a hollow twanging sound; pop, popping
a sharp explosive sound as from a gunshot or drawing a cork; purr
a low vibrating sound typical of a contented cat; quack
the harsh sound of a duck; quaver
a tremulous sound; ring, ringing, tintinnabulation
the sound of a bell ringing; drumbeat, rataplan, rub-a-dub
the sound made by beating a drum; sigh
a sound like a person sighing; skirl
the sound of (the chanter of) a bagpipe; song
a distinctive or characteristic sound; strum
sound of strumming; susurration, susurrus
the indistinct sound of people whispering; swish
a brushing or rustling sound; tapping
the sound of light blow or knock; throbbing
a sound with a strong rhythmic beat; clump, clunk, thud, thump, thumping
a heavy dull sound (as made by impact of heavy objects); thrum
a thrumming sound; thunk
a dull hollow sound; tick, ticking
a metallic tapping sound; ting, tinkle
a light clear metallic sound as of a small bell; toot
a blast of a horn; tootle
the sound of casual playing on a musical instrument; trample, trampling
the sound of heavy treading or stomping; twang
a sharp vibrating sound (as of a plucked string); vibrato
(music) a pulsating effect in an instrumental or vocal tone produced by slight and rapid variations in pitch; voice
a sound suggestive of a vocal utterance; vroom
the roaring sound made by a motor that is running at high speed; whack
the sound made by a sharp swift blow; birr, whir, whirr, whirring
sound of something in rapid motion; whistle, whistling
the sound made by something moving rapidly or by steam coming out of a small aperture; whiz
a buzzing or hissing sound as of something traveling rapidly through the air; zing
a brief high-pitched buzzing or humming sound; zizz
a buzzing or whizzing sound; baa
the cry made by sheep; bam, bang, blast, clap, eruption
a sudden very loud noise; banging
a continuing very loud noise; bark
the sound made by a dog; bark
a noise resembling the bark of a dog; bay
the sound of a hound on the scent; blare, blaring, cacophony, clamor, clamour, din
a loud harsh or strident noise; boom, roar, roaring, thunder
a deep prolonged loud noise; bleat
the sound of sheep or goats (or any sound resembling this); bray
the cry of an ass; cackle
the sound made by a hen after laying an egg; caterwaul
the yowling sound made by a cat; caw
the sound made by corvine birds; chatter, chattering
the high-pitched continuing noise made by animals (birds or monkeys); chatter, chattering
the rapid series of noises made by the parts of a machine; cheep, peep
the short weak cry of a young bird; chug
the dull explosive noise made by an engine; clack, clap
a sharp abrupt noise as if two objects hit together; may be repeated; clang, clangor, clangoring, clangour, clank, clash, crash
a loud resonant repeating noise; clatter
a rattling noise (often produced by rapid movement); clickety-clack, clickety-click
a fast and rhythmic click-clack; cluck, clucking
the sound made by a hen (as in calling her chicks); coo
the sound made by a pigeon; crack, cracking, snap
a sudden sharp noise; crackle, crackling, crepitation
the sharp sound of snapping noises; creak, creaking
a squeaking sound; crow
the cry of a rooster (or an imitation of it); crunch
the sound of something crunching; ding-dong
the noise made by a bell; explosion
the noise caused by an explosion; gobble
the characteristic sound made by a turkey cock; grate
a harsh rasping sound made by scraping something; grinding
a harsh and strident sound (as of the grinding of gears); growl, growling
the sound of growling (as made by animals); grunt, oink
the short low gruff noise of the kind made by hogs; fizzle, hiss, hissing, hushing, sibilation
a fricative sound (especially as an expression of disapproval); honk
the cry of a goose (or any sound resembling this); howl
a loud sustained noise resembling the cry of a hound; howl
the long plaintive cry of a hound or a wolf; brouhaha, hubbub, katzenjammer, uproar
loud confused noise from many sources; hum, humming
a humming noise; knell
the sound of a bell rung slowly to announce a death or a funeral or the end of something; meow, mew, miaou, miaow, miaul
the sound made by a cat (or any sound resembling this); moo
the sound made by a cow or bull; neigh, nicker, whicker, whinny
the characteristic sounds made by a horse; pant
the noise made by a short puff of steam (as from an engine); pitter-patter
a series of rapid tapping sounds; plonk
the noise of something dropping (as into liquid); plop
the noise of a rounded object dropping into a liquid without a splash; plump
the sound of a sudden heavy fall; racket
a loud and disturbing noise; rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat-tat, rat-tat
a series of short sharp taps (as made by strokes on a drum or knocks on a door); rale, rattle, rattling
a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders); report
a sharp explosive sound (especially the sound of a gun firing); rhonchus
a sound like whistling or snoring that is heard with a stethoscope during expiration as air passes through obstructed channels; roar
the sound made by a lion; grumble, grumbling, rumble, rumbling
a loud low dull continuous noise; rustle, rustling, whisper, whispering
a light noise, like the noise of silk clothing or leaves blowing in the wind; scrape, scraping, scratch, scratching
a harsh noise made by scraping; scream, screaming, screech, screeching, shriek, shrieking
a high-pitched noise resembling a human cry; scrunch
a crunching noise; shrilling
a continuing shrill noise; sizzle
a sizzling noise; slam
the noise made by the forceful impact of two objects; snap
the noise produced by the rapid movement of a finger from the tip to the base of the thumb on the same hand; snore
the rattling noise produced when snoring; spatter, spattering, splatter, splattering, splutter, sputter, sputtering
the noise of something spattering or sputtering explosively; plash, splash
the sound like water splashing; squawk
the noise of squawking; squeak
a short high-pitched noise; squish
the noise of soft mud being walked on; stridulation
a shrill grating or chirping noise made by some insects by rubbing body parts together; swoosh, whoosh
the noise produced by the sudden rush of a fluid (a gas or liquid); thunder
a booming or crashing noise caused by air expanding along the path of a bolt of lightning; ticktock, tictac, tocktact
steady recurrent ticking sound as made by a clock; tramp
a heavy footfall; tweet
a weak chirping sound as of a small bird; tremolo
vocal vibrato especially an excessive or poorly controlled one; yelp, yelping, yip
a sharp high-pitched cry (especially by a dog); angelus, angelus bell
the sound of a bell rung in Roman Catholic churches to announce the time when the Angelus should be recited; bell ringing
the sound of someone playing a set of bells

Type of:: happening, natural event, occurrence, occurrent
an event that happens

n the audible part of a transmitted signal

Synonyms:: audio

Type of:: auditory communication
communication that relies on hearing

n (phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language

Synonyms:: phone, speech sound

Types:: show 24 types...; hide 24 types...; phoneme
(linguistics) one of a small set of speech sounds that are distinguished by the speakers of a particular language; vowel, vowel sound
a speech sound made with the vocal tract open; glide, semivowel
a vowellike sound that serves as a consonant; consonant
a speech sound that is not a vowel; orinasal, orinasal phone
a speech sound produced with both the oral and nasal passages open (as French nasal vowels); sonant, voiced sound
a speech sound accompanied by sound from the vocal cords; allophone
(linguistics) any of various acoustically different forms of the same phoneme; ablaut
a vowel whose quality or length is changed to indicate linguistic distinctions (such as sing sang sung song); diphthong
a vowel sound that starts near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves toward the position for another; schwa, shwa
a neutral middle vowel; occurs in unstressed syllables; stem vowel, thematic vowel
a vowel that ends a stem and precedes an inflection; palatal
a semivowel produced with the tongue near the palate (like the initial sound in the English word `yeast'); alveolar, alveolar consonant, dental, dental consonant
a consonant articulated with the tip of the tongue near the gum ridge; obstruent
a consonant that is produced with a partial or complete blockage of the airflow from the lungs through the nose or mouth; aspirate
a consonant pronounced with aspiration; labial, labial consonant
a consonant whose articulation involves movement of the lips; labiodental, labiodental consonant
a consonant whose articulation involves the lips and teeth; nasal, nasal consonant
a consonant produced through the nose with the mouth closed; lingual
a consonant that is produced with the tongue and other speech organs; liquid
a frictionless continuant that is not a nasal consonant (especially `l' and `r'); geminate
a doubled or long consonant; surd, voiceless consonant
a consonant produced without sound from the vocal cords; velar, velar consonant
a consonant produced with the back of the tongue touching or near the soft palate; guttural, guttural consonant, pharyngeal, pharyngeal consonant
a consonant articulated in the back of the mouth or throat

Type of:: language unit, linguistic unit
one of the natural units into which linguistic messages can be analyzed

v make a certain noise or sound

Synonyms:: go

Types:: show 85 types...; hide 85 types...; snarl
make a snarling noise or move with a snarling noise; sing, whistle
make a whining, ringing, or whistling sound; blow
make a sound as if blown; ting
make a light, metallic sound; go `ting'; make noise, noise, resound
emit a noise; splat
give off the sound of a bullet flattening on impact; twang
sound with a twang; clang, clangor, clangour
make a loud noise; clank
make a clank; clangor, clangour
make a loud resonant noise; boom, boom out
make a deep hollow sound; beat, drum, thrum
make a rhythmic sound; rattle
make short successive sounds; beat, tick, ticktack, ticktock
make a sound like a clock or a timer; resonate, vibrate
sound with resonance; crash
make a sudden loud sound; tweet, twirp
make a weak, chirping sound; skirl
make a shrill, wailing sound; gurgle
make sounds similar to gurgling water; glug
make a gurgling sound as of liquid issuing from a bottle; blow
sound by having air expelled through a tube; whish
make a sibilant sound; guggle
make a sound like a liquid that is being poured from a bottle; ping
make a short high-pitched sound; knock, ping, pink
sound like a car engine that is firing too early; trump
produce a sound as if from a trumpet; squelch
make a sucking sound; chug
make a dull, explosive sound; peal, ring
sound loudly and sonorously; bombilate, bombinate, buzz
make a buzzing sound; chime
emit a sound; rustle
make a dry crackling sound; crack, snap
make a sharp sound; crack
make a very sharp explosive sound; beep, blare, claxon, honk, toot
make a loud noise; whistle
make whistling sounds; echo, resound, reverberate, ring
ring or echo with sound; thud, thump
make a dull sound; clop, clump, clunk, plunk
make or move along with a sound as of a horse's hooves striking the ground; patter, pitter-patter
make light, rapid and repeated sounds; knock, pink, rap, tap
make light, repeated taps on a surface; click, tick
make a clicking or ticking sound; chatter, click
click repeatedly or uncontrollably; pop
make a sharp explosive noise; chink, clink, tink, tinkle
make or emit a high sound; slosh, slush, splash, splosh
make a splashing sound; hum, thrum
sound with a monotonous hum; bleep
emit a single short high-pitched signal; grumble, rumble
make a low noise; boom, din
make a resonant sound, like artillery; bang
to produce a sharp often metallic explosive or percussive sound; babble, bubble, burble, guggle, gurgle, ripple
flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise; lap, swish, swoosh, swosh
move with or cause to move with a whistling or hissing sound; drone
make a monotonous low dull sound; birr, purr, whir, whirr, whiz, whizz
make a soft swishing sound; roll
emit, produce, or utter with a deep prolonged reverberating sound; sizzle
make a sound like frying fat; howl, roar
make a loud noise, as of wind, water, or vehicles; purl, sough
make a murmuring sound; make vibrant sounds, purr
indicate pleasure by purring; characteristic of cats; claxon, honk
use the horn of a car; hum
make a low continuous sound; crackle, crunch, scranch, scraunch
make a crushing noise; creak, screak, screech, skreak, squeak, whine
make a high-pitched, screeching noise; racket
make loud and annoying noises; brattle, clack, clatter
make a rattling sound; clitter, stridulate
make a shrill creaking noise by rubbing together special bodily structures; drown out
make imperceptible; jangle, jingle, jingle-jangle
make a sound typical of metallic objects; scream
make a loud, piercing sound; backfire
emit a loud noise as a result of undergoing a backfire; ruckle
make a hoarse, rattling sound; crackle, crepitate
make a crackling sound; ring out
sound loudly; ding, dingdong, dong
go `ding dong', like a bell; tintinnabulate
ring or sound like a small bell; peal
ring recurrently; knell
ring as in announcing death; blare, blast
make a strident sound; tootle
play (a musical instrument) casually; consonate
sound in sympathy; reecho
repeat or return an echo again or repeatedly; send (an echo) back; reecho
echo repeatedly, echo again and again; bong
ring loudly and deeply; sputter
make an explosive sound

Type of:: cause to be perceived
have perceptible qualities

v give off a certain sound or sounds

“This record sounds scratchy”

Types:: show 5 types...; hide 5 types...; cackel
make a cackling sound; play
emit recorded sound; dissonate
be dissonant or harsh; pierce
sound sharply or shrilly; speak
make a characteristic or natural sound

v cause to sound

“sound the bell”

“sound a certain note”

Types:: show 22 types...; hide 22 types...; play
perform music on (a musical instrument); blow
play or sound a wind instrument; twang
cause to sound with a twang; prepare
lead up to and soften by sounding the dissonant note in it as a consonant note in the preceding chord; gong
sound a gong; ting
cause to make a ting; strum, thrum
sound the strings of (a string instrument); knell, ring
make (bells) ring, often for the purposes of musical edification; pop
cause to make a sharp explosive sound; clink
make a high sound typical of glass; register
manipulate the registers of an organ; skirl
play the bagpipes; beat
produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly; tweedle
play negligently on a musical instrument; chord
play chords on (a string instrument); pipe
play on a pipe; drum
play a percussion instrument; harp
play the harp; fiddle
play the violin or fiddle; trumpet
play or blow on the trumpet; clarion
blow the clarion; toll
ring slowly

v announce by means of a sound

“sound the alarm”

Type of:: announce, denote
make known; make an announcement

v utter with vibrating vocal chords

Synonyms:: vocalise, vocalize, voice

Antonyms:: devoice
utter with tense vocal chords

Types:: chirk
make a shrill creaking, squeaking, or noise, as of a door, mouse, or bird; quaver, waver
give off unsteady sounds, alternating in amplitude or frequency

Type of:: articulate, enounce, enunciate, pronounce, say, sound out
speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way

v appear in a certain way

“This sounds interesting”

Type of:: appear, look, seem
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect

n a narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water

Synonyms:: strait

Examples:: show 20 examples...; hide 20 examples...; Canakkale Bogazi
the strait between the Aegean and the Sea of Marmara that separates European Turkey from Asian Turkey; East River
a tidal strait separating Manhattan and the Bronx from Queens and Brooklyn; Bering Strait
a strait connecting the Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean; Bosporus
a strait connecting the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; separates the European and Asian parts of Turkey; an important shipping route; Cook Strait
a narrow strait separating the North Island and South Island in New Zealand; Golden Gate
a strait in western California that connects the San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean; discovered in 1579 by Sir Francis Drake; Kattegatt
a strait of the North Sea between Jutland and Sweden; connects with the North Sea through the Skagerrak; Korean Strait
a strait between Korea and Japan; connects the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan; Menai Strait
a strait in northern Wales between Anglesey Island and the mainland; North Channel
a strait between Northern Ireland and Scotland that connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea; Skagerrak
a broad strait of the North Sea between Jutland and Norway; Solent
a strait of the English Channel between the coast of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight; Strait of Georgia
the strait separating Vancouver Island from the Canadian mainland; Strait of Gibraltar
the strait between Spain and Africa; Strait of Hormuz
a strategically important strait linking the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; Strait of Magellan
the strait separating South America from Tierra del Fuego and other islands to the south of the continent; discovered by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520; an important route around South America before the Panama Canal was built; Strait of Messina
the strait separating Sicily from the tip of Italy; Strait of Calais
the strait between the English Channel and the North Sea; shortest distance between England and the European continent; Torres Strait
a strait between northeastern Australia and southern New Guinea that connects the Coral Sea with the Arafura Sea; Verrazano Narrows
a narrow channel of water separating Staten Island and Brooklyn

Types:: narrow
a narrow strait connecting two bodies of water

Type of:: channel
a deep and relatively narrow body of water (as in a river or a harbor or a strait linking two larger bodies) that allows the best passage for vessels

n a large ocean inlet or deep bay

“the main body of the sound ran parallel to the coast”

Examples:: Long Island Sound
a sound between Long Island and Connecticut; Puget Sound
an inlet of the North Pacific in northwestern Washington State; Queen Charlotte Sound
an inlet of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of British Columbia

Type of:: body of water, water
the part of the earth's surface covered with water (such as a river or lake or ocean)

v measure the depth of (a body of water) with a sounding line

Synonyms:: fathom

Type of:: measure, quantify
express as a number or measure or quantity

adj in good condition; free from defect or damage or decay

“a sound timber”

“the wall is sound”

“a sound foundation”

Synonyms:: solid, strong, substantial
of good quality and condition; solidly built

Antonyms:: unsound
not in good condition; damaged or decayed; corroded
eaten away as by acid or oxidation; decayed, rotted, rotten
damaged by decay; hence unsound and useless; show more antonyms...

adj in excellent physical condition

“a sound mind in a sound body”

Synonyms:: good

: healthy
having or indicating good health in body or mind; free from infirmity or disease

adj free from moral defect

“a man of sound character”

Synonyms:: righteous
characterized by or proceeding from accepted standards of morality or justice

adj exercising or showing good judgment

“a sound approach to the problem”

“sound advice”

“no sound explanation for his decision”

Synonyms:: healthy, intelligent, level-headed, levelheaded

: reasonable, sensible
showing reason or sound judgment

adj financially secure and safe

“sound investments”

“a sound economy”

Synonyms:: unbroken
not broken; whole and intact; in one piece; undamaged
not harmed or spoiled; sound; fit
physically and mentally sound or healthy; healthy
having or indicating good health in body or mind; free from infirmity or disease; uninjured
not injured physically or mentally; dependable, good, safe, secure
financially sound; healthy
financially secure and functioning well; solid
financially sound; stable
firm and dependable; subject to little fluctuation; wholesome
conducive to or characteristic of physical or moral well-being

Antonyms:: unsound
not sound financially; broken
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split; damaged
harmed or injured or spoiled; unfit
not in good physical or mental condition; out of condition; unhealthy
not in or exhibiting good health in body or mind; injured
harmed; bad, high-risk, risky, speculative
not financially safe or secure; long
involving substantial risk; wildcat
outside the bounds of legitimate or ethical business practices; unwholesome
detrimental to physical or moral well-being; show more antonyms...

adj logically valid

“a sound argument”

Synonyms:: reasoned, well-grounded

: valid
well grounded in logic or truth or having legal force

adj having legal efficacy or force

“a sound title to the property”

Synonyms:: effectual, legal

: valid
well grounded in logic or truth or having legal force

adj thorough

“a sound thrashing”

Synonyms:: complete
having every necessary or normal part or component or step

adj (of sleep) deep and complete

“a sound sleeper”

Synonyms:: heavy, profound, wakeless

: deep
relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply