sound wave

noun

, Physics.

1. a longitudinal wave in an elastic medium, especially a wave producing an audible sensation.

sound wave

noun

1. a wave that propagates sound

Word History and Origins

Origin of sound wave¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Echoes in whale songs recorded by seismic instruments on the ocean floor reveal that the sound waves pass through layers of sediment and underlying rock.

From Science News

Analyzing EEG data in this way is analogous to looking at the sound waves from an audio recording made on a bridge over a highway, explains Lawrence Ward, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of British Columbia.

From Quanta Magazine

They power themselves using the vibrations of sound waves hitting them.

From Science News For Students

She proposed in 2017 that an analogous disturbance from a dark matter interaction might generate sound waves that could slightly warm the system.

From Quanta Magazine

At pressures millions of times that of Earth’s atmosphere, sound waves move faster and could surpass the limit.

From Science News

Similarly a sound wave in air is reflected upon striking the surface of a body.

From Project Gutenberg

During a complete vibration of the fork, therefore, the sound wave moves four times the length of the air column.

From Project Gutenberg

Let the curve A represent the sound wave sent out by one tuning fork and B, that sent out by the other.

From Project Gutenberg

The result was that I saw a wave of compression, of the same sort as a sound-wave in air, move through the throng.

From Project Gutenberg

Now the actions and reactions between the air-particles in a sound wave are purely mechanical.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• radio wave