sounding

¹ American  

[soun-ding] / ˈsaʊn dɪŋ /

adjective

Archaic.

1. emitting or producing a sound or sounds.

2. resounding or sonorous.

3. having an imposing sound; high-sounding; pompous.

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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 American  

[soun-ding] / ˈsaʊn dɪŋ /

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.

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idioms

1. off soundings, in waters beyond the 100-fathom (180-meter) depth.

2. on soundings, in waters less than 100 fathoms (180 meters) deep, so that the lead can be used.

sounding ¹ British  

/ 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. in waters less than 100 fathoms in depth

6. in waters more than 100 fathoms in depth

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sounding ² British  

/ ˈsaʊndɪŋ /

adjective

1. resounding; resonant

2. having an imposing sound and little content; pompous

   sounding phrases

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Other Word Forms

• soundingness
  noun
• soundingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of sounding¹

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

Origin of sounding²

First recorded 1300–50; Middle English; see origin at sound ³, -ing ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sounding

Executives at OpenAI and Anthropic are sounding the alarm about the rise of inexpensive AI, including some of China’s latest models, suggesting they present unacceptable security risks without regulation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

After months of sounding the alarm on potential Federal Reserve interest-rate increases, the script suddenly flipped in the $30 trillion U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

“Hackney Diamonds” is another strong effort, with the banger “Angry” sounding urgent and, well, genuinely angry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Activists in the low-income communities who are most likely to be investigated by CPS are sounding the alarm.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

“Bill, bill, ad . . . ,” Chip flipped through the stack, sounding more relieved with each letter that wasn’t a plain envelope addressed to him, without a return address.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• analysis
• case
• examination
• hearing
• inquiry
• inspection
• probe
• research
• review
• scrutiny
• search
• study
• survey