sounding line

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noun

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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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

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Origin of sounding line

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50

Words nearby sounding line

sound hole, sounding, sounding balloon, sounding board, sounding lead, sounding line, sounding machine, sounding rocket, sound law, soundless, sound man

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

How to use sounding line in a sentence

The lieutenant wanted two men to keep it out in the current while he used the sounding line and recorded results.
Overland|John William De Forest
For some days the sounding-line reached the bottom, and the soil which it brought up indicated land to be at no great distance.
The Ontario Readers: Fourth Book|Various
They had many things in the boat but lost only two billies, two pannikins, a sounding line and Hamilton's hat, knife and pipe.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson
On a trial trip we had found a depth of 130 feet not far from the shore, so we made ready a sounding line 490 feet long.
Trans-Himalaya, Vol. 2 (of 2)|Sven Hedin

At the ninth sounding-station the red metal disc of the current-meter became entangled in the sounding-line.
Trans-Himalaya, Vol. 2 (of 2)|Sven Hedin

British Dictionary definitions for sounding line

sounding line

noun

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

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