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View synonyms for sounding

sounding

1

[ soun-ding ]

adjective

, Archaic.
  1. emitting or producing a sound or sounds.
  2. resounding or sonorous.
  3. having an imposing sound; high-sounding; pompous.


noun

  1. a verbal contest or confrontation, as among teenage boys or street-gang members, in which the trading of often elaborate insults and invective takes the place of physical violence.

sounding

2

[ soun-ding ]

noun

  1. Often soundings. the act of measuring the depth of an area of water with or as if with a lead and line.
  2. soundings,
    1. an area of water that can be sounded with an ordinary lead and line, the depth being 100 fathoms (180 meters) or less.
    2. the results or measurement obtained by sounding with a lead and line.
  3. Meteorology. any vertical penetration of the atmosphere for scientific measurement, especially a radiosonde observation.

sounding

1

/ ˈsaʊndɪŋ /

noun

  1. sometimes plural the act or process of measuring depth of water or examining the bottom of a river, lake, etc, as with a sounding line
  2. an observation or measurement of atmospheric conditions, as made using a radiosonde or rocketsonde
  3. often plural measurements taken by sounding
  4. plural a place where a sounding line will reach the bottom, esp less than 100 fathoms in depth
  5. on soundings
    in waters less than 100 fathoms in depth
  6. off soundings
    in waters more than 100 fathoms in depth
“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

sounding

2

/ ˈsaʊndɪŋ /

adjective

  1. resounding; resonant
  2. having an imposing sound and little content; pompous

    sounding phrases

“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˈsoundingly, adverb
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Other Words From

  • sounding·ly adverb
  • sounding·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sounding1

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English; sound 1 + -ing 2

Origin of sounding2

First recorded 1300–50; Middle English; sound 3, -ing 1
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. off soundings, Nautical. in waters beyond the 100-fathom (180-meter) depth.
  2. on soundings, Nautical. in waters less than 100 fathoms (180 meters) deep, so that the lead can be used.
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Example Sentences

Some 20 years later, another Times writer, sounding like an anti-DEI whiner, wrote approvingly about diligent Indians grateful for free schooling and medical services, and disapprovingly about the Indians who weren’t.

Artists and storytellers are often our early warning system and they’ve been sounding the alarm bells for years.

From Salon

Most lawmakers tend to all sing the same tune in their guarded echo chamber, ignoring different sounding appeals from the public.

They treated it all like some terrible board game when they should have been sounding the alarms and giving the most menacing threat in American history the editorial weight it deserved.

From Salon

A band composed of members of the Royal Marine Band, the Royal Corps of Signals Pipes and Drums and the Police Scotland and Federation Pipe Band provided arrangements and the sounding of the Last Post.

From BBC

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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.

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