sonar
Americannoun
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a method for detecting and locating objects submerged in water by echolocation.
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the apparatus used in sonar.
noun
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Short for sound navigation and ranging. A method of detecting, locating, and determining the speed of objects through the use of reflected sound waves. A sound signal is produced, and the time it takes for the signal to reach an object and for its echo to return is used to calculate the object's distance. The Doppler effect can also be used to determine the object's relative velocity. Electronic sonar systems are used for submarine navigation and for detecting schools of fish. Some mammals, especially bats, use biological sonar to navigate and detect prey in dark conditions, commonly called echolocation.
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The equipment or physiology used in doing this.
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See also Doppler effect lidar radar
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sonar
1940–45; so(und) na(vigation) r(anging)
Compare meaning
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Explanation
Sonar is a method of finding objects under water using sound waves. If the Titanic had been able to use sonar, it never would have hit that iceberg. There are two kinds of sonar: active sonar, which sends sounds out and listens for their echoes, and passive sonar, which records existing sounds. Both allow boat and submarine pilots, explorers, the military, and scientists to determine how far away underwater objects are and approximately how large they are. Leonardo da Vinci gets the credit for inventing sonar when he inserted a tube in the water and listened for the sound of distant ships in 1490.
Vocabulary lists containing sonar
Earth Science - Middle School
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Earth Science - High School
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Earth Science - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Earlier this year, it launched a new product called Sonar that lets founders host public token sales.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025
Sonar imaging, which mapped the ocean floor using sound waves, led researchers to what they claimed was a small aircraft.
From BBC • Sep. 27, 2025
Divers with Sunshine State Sonar found the vehicle last Saturday while searching in a small retention pond at the Disney World exit on Interstate 4 in Kissimmee.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 3, 2024
Sonar pulses, usually used to detect submarines, can have deleterious effects on divers’ hearing and internal organs, depending on intensity and frequency.
From Washington Times • Nov. 19, 2023
It was given to drink jardar magn svalkaldr s�r and Sonar dreyri.
From Teutonic Mythology, Vol. 1 of 3 Gods and Goddesses of the Northland by Ph.D.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
