sounding board
sounding boards
A sounding board is someone with whom you can try out an idea or practice making an argument. The reaction of your sounding board gives you an idea of how your eventual audience will react.
A writer might have a good friend who acts as a sounding board, reading drafts of her novel before she submits it to a publisher. Big companies also use sounding boards, trying out new products or ideas on them to gauge how successful they might be. The original, literal sounding board is a device — often an actual board that vibrates — meant to help amplify a speaker's voice from a stage, podium, or pulpit.
Definitions of sounding board
-
a person whose reactions to something serve as an indication of its acceptability
-
(music) resonator consisting of a thin board whose vibrations reinforce the sound of the instrument
-
synonyms:
soundboard
-
type of:
-
cavity resonator, resonating chamber, resonator
a hollow chamber whose dimensions allow the resonant oscillation of electromagnetic or acoustic waves
-
cavity resonator, resonating chamber, resonator
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘sounding board'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
Send us feedback
Word Family
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Look up sounding board for the last time
Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the words you need to know.
