sounding line

American  

noun

1. a line weighted with a lead or plummet sounding lead and bearing marks to show the length paid out, used for sounding, as at sea.

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sounding line British  

noun

1. a line marked off to indicate its length and having a sounding lead at one end. It is dropped over the side of a vessel to determine the depth of the water

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Etymology

Origin of sounding line

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50

Example Sentences

They had many things in the boat but lost only two billies, two pannikins, a sounding line and Hamilton's hat, knife and pipe.

From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Mawson, Douglas, Sir

"And these are some new breed of sounding line?"

From Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Walter, F. P.

"First time I ever wished I was a Dutchman!" swore Joe Byng, coiling up his sounding line.

From Told in the East by Mundy, Talbot

“That is easily seen,” answered the sailor, taking the sounding line, which measured fifty fathoms, and letting it down.

From The Mysterious Island by White, Stephen W.

By his observations Franklin may be said to have converted the thermometer into a sounding line.

From COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Humboldt, Alexander von