reverberate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to reecho or resound.
Her singing reverberated through the house.
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Physics. to be reflected many times, as sound waves from the walls of a confined space.
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to rebound or recoil.
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to be deflected, as flame in a reverberatory furnace.
verb (used with object)
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to echo back or reecho (sound).
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to cast back or reflect (light, heat, etc.).
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to subject to reflected heat, as in a reverberatory furnace.
adjective
verb
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(intr) to resound or re-echo
the explosion reverberated through the castle
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to reflect or be reflected many times
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(intr) to rebound or recoil
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(intr) (of the flame or heat in a reverberatory furnace) to be deflected onto the metal or ore on the hearth
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(tr) to heat, melt, or refine (a metal or ore) in a reverberatory furnace
Other Word Forms
- reverberant adjective
- reverberantly adverb
- reverberation noun
- reverberative adjective
- reverberator noun
- unreverberated adjective
- unreverberating adjective
- unreverberative adjective
Etymology
Origin of reverberate
First recorded in 1540–50, reverberate is from the Latin word reverberātus (past participle of reverberāre to strike back). See reverberant, -ate 1
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.
But what you choose to do in the quiet moments day in and day out can reverberate for the whole of your kids’ lives.
Mosaku: I felt a deep connection to my ancestry, to my purpose, to how what I do today will reverberate in the future.
From Los Angeles Times
“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” the mayor said.
From Los Angeles Times
Bass called their deaths a “devastating loss for our city and our country” and said Reiner’s contributions “reverberate throughout American culture and society.”
A top JPMorgan Chase executive’s words at a conference may reverberate through rival banks.
From Barron's
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.