hydrophone

[ hahy-druh-fohn ]

/ ˈhaɪ drəˌfoʊn /

noun

a device for locating sources of sound under water, as for detecting submarines by the noise of their engines.

an instrument employing the principles of the microphone, used to detect the flow of water through a pipe.

Medicine/Medical. an instrument used in auscultation, whereby sounds are intensified through a column of water.

Nearby words

Origin of hydrophone

First recorded in 1855–60; hydro-¹ + -phone

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hydrophone

The development of the hydrophone for anti-submarine work, both from ships and from shore stations.
The Crisis of the Naval War|John Rushworth Jellicoe
Then came the store rooms and wireless and hydrophone rooms.
The Thick of the Fray at Zeebrugge|Percy F. Westerman
The "water noises" were reduced and, greatest improvement of all, the hydrophone was made "directional."
Submarine Warfare of To-day|Charles W. Domville-Fife
The simple movement of a vessel's hull through the water cannot be heard on a hydrophone.
Submarine Warfare of To-day|Charles W. Domville-Fife

The Adriatic Sea was an ideal place for the use of the hydrophone.
Inventions of the Great War|A. Russell (Alexander Russell) Bond

British Dictionary definitions for hydrophone

hydrophone

/ (ˈhaɪdrəˌfəʊn) /

noun

an electroacoustic transducer that converts sound or ultrasonic waves travelling through water into electrical oscillations

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Science definitions for hydrophone

hydrophone

[ hī′drə-fōn′ ]

A device used to detect or monitor sound under water. Hydrophones are often installed or towed in arrays that can be used to pinpoint a sound source or provide sea-floor imaging as part of a sonar system.