sound wave

Save This Word!

See synonyms for sound wave on Thesaurus.com

noun Physics.

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

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of sound wave

First recorded in 1865–70

Words nearby sound wave

sound stage, sound symbolism, sound system, soundtrack, sound truck, sound wave, Souness, Sounion, Sounion Head, soup, soup-and-fish

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sound wave in a sentence

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.
Fin whale songs can reveal hidden features of the ocean floor|Carolyn Gramling|February 11, 2021|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.
Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Hold Clues to Persistent Mysteries|Elizabeth Landau|February 8, 2021|Quanta Magazine
They power themselves using the vibrations of sound waves hitting them.
Bye-bye batteries? Power a phone with fabric or a beacon with sound|Kathryn Hulick|January 6, 2021|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.
The Search for Dark Matter Is Dramatically Expanding|Charlie Wood|November 23, 2020|Quanta Magazine

At pressures millions of times that of Earth’s atmosphere, sound waves move faster and could surpass the limit.
Fundamental constants place a new speed limit on sound|Emily Conover|October 9, 2020|Science News
Similarly a sound wave in air is reflected upon striking the surface of a body.
Physics|Willis Eugene Tower
During a complete vibration of the fork, therefore, the sound wave moves four times the length of the air column.
Physics|Willis Eugene Tower
Let the curve A represent the sound wave sent out by one tuning fork and B, that sent out by the other.
Physics|Willis Eugene Tower
The result was that I saw a wave of compression, of the same sort as a sound-wave in air, move through the throng.
A Librarian's Open Shelf|Arthur E. Bostwick
Now the actions and reactions between the air-particles in a sound wave are purely mechanical.
A Librarian's Open Shelf|Arthur E. Bostwick

British Dictionary definitions for sound wave

sound wave

noun

a wave that propagates sound

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

sound wave

Origin of sound wave

Words nearby sound wave

Words related to sound wave

How to use sound wave in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sound wave