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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sounding line

The slight inclination of the low lands of Georgia and Carolina is continued under water till the sounding line attains a depth of about fifty fathoms.

From The Strand Magazine, Volume XXVII, Issue 160, April, 1904 by Various

The principal instruments used in navigation were the rudder, anchor, sounding line, cables, oars, sails, and masts.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels - Volume 18 Historical Sketch of the Progress of Discovery, Navigation, and Commerce, from the Earliest Records to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century, By William Stevenson by William Stevenson

Then we've got to use a sounding line to find out in which direction the hull of the sunken derelict lies.

From The Submarine Boys' Lightning Cruise The Young Kings of the Deep by Victor G. Durham

Nevertheless, as the bottom might happen to rise sharply instead of following the slope of the coast, we did not venture to proceed out the sounding line in hand.

From An Antarctic Mystery by Frances Cashel Hoey

And he cast a look at Madame Camusot as a sailor casts a sounding line.

From Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honoré de Balzac

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