sounding line

American  

noun

1. a line weighted with a lead or plummet sounding lead and bearing marks to show the length paid out, used for sounding, as at sea.

---

sounding line British  

noun

1. a line marked off to indicate its length and having a sounding lead at one end. It is dropped over the side of a vessel to determine the depth of the water

---

Etymology

Origin of sounding line

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sounding line

The story told me in my boyhood does not say how much sounding line was brought.

From Inca Land Explorations in the Highlands of Peru by Hiram Bingham

"First time I ever wished I was a Dutchman!" swore Joe Byng, coiling up his sounding line.

From Told in the East by Talbot Mundy

Wednesday, August 26, the sounding line forewarned the reefs of Sable Island.

From Canada: the Empire of the North Being the Romantic Story of the New Dominion's Growth from Colony to Kingdom by Agnes C. (Agnes Christina) Laut

“That is easily seen,” answered the sailor, taking the sounding line, which measured fifty fathoms, and letting it down.

From The Mysterious Island by Stephen W. White

If a sounding line be let down from the outer edge of the reef, it will be found that the wall of coral goes down hundreds of feet like a precipice.

From The Geological Story of the Isle of Wight by J. Cecil Hughes