whispering gallery

American

noun

a space or gallery beneath a dome or broad arch in which low sounds produced at any of certain points are clearly audible at certain other distant points.

whispering gallery British

noun

a gallery or dome with acoustic characteristics such that a sound made at one point is audible at distant points

"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

Etymology

Origin of whispering gallery

First recorded in 1690–1700

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In the same way that the architecture of a whispering gallery bends and focuses sound waves, WGM microresonators confine and concentrate light in a tiny circular path.

From Science Daily • Apr. 26, 2024

If a whispering gallery has a length of 120 feet and the foci are located 30 feet from the center, find the height of the ceiling at the center.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

A whispering gallery is to be constructed with a length of 150 feet.

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015

The new sensor differs from earlier whispering gallery resonators in that it is itself a miniature laser rather than the resonating cavity of an external laser.

From US News • Jun. 29, 2011

The whispering gallery, the great bell, the library, and so many other curiosities are to be seen, that even to name the whole would require more space than we can afford in our little work.

From City Scenes or a peep into London by Darton, William

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023