sound
noun
- long, relatively wide body of water, connecting two larger bodies of water
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L27925 on Wikidata ↗noun
- mechanical pressure wave
- act or process of making a sound, producing noise
verb
- seem, appear, to the ear
- make a sound, production of noise
- depth measuring, environmental probe
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈsaʊ̯nd/ / [ˈsaʊ̯nd] / /ˈsæʊ̯nd/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English sound, sund, isund, ȝesund, from Old English sund (“sound, safe, whole, uninjured, healthy, prosperous”), from Proto-West Germanic *sund, from Proto-Germanic *sundaz (“healthy”), merged with synonymous Old English ġesund, from Proto-West Germanic *gasund. Cognate with Scots sound, soun (“healthy, sound”), Saterland Frisian suund, gesuund (“healthy”), West Frisian sûn (“healthy”), Dutch gezond (“healthy, sound”), Low German sund, gesund (“healthy”), German gesund (“healthy, sound”), Danish sund (“healthy”), Swedish sund (“sound, healthy”). Possibly related also to Dutch gezwind (“fast, quick”), German geschwind (“fast, quick”), Old English swīþ (“strong, mighty, powerful, active, severe, violent”). See swith.
- Healthy.
“He was safe and sound.”
“In horse management a sound horse is one with no health problems that might affect its suitability for its intended work.”
- Complete, solid, or secure.
“Fred assured me the floorboards were sound.”
“The brasswork here, how rich it is in beams, / And how, besides, it makes the whole house sound.”
- Having the property of soundness.
“With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get[…]”
- Good; acceptable; decent.
“How are you? —I'm sound.”
“That's a sound track you're playing.”
- Quiet and deep.
“Sound asleep means sleeping peacefully, and often deeply.”
“Her sleep was sound.”
- Heavy; laid on with force.
“a sound beating”
- Founded in law; legal; valid; not defective.
“a sound title to land”
adv
Etymology: From Middle English sound, sund, isund, ȝesund, from Old English sund (“sound, safe, whole, uninjured, healthy, prosperous”), from Proto-West Germanic *sund, from Proto-Germanic *sundaz (“healthy”), merged with synonymous Old English ġesund, from Proto-West Germanic *gasund. Cognate with Scots sound, soun (“healthy, sound”), Saterland Frisian suund, gesuund (“healthy”), West Frisian sûn (“healthy”), Dutch gezond (“healthy, sound”), Low German sund, gesund (“healthy”), German gesund (“healthy, sound”), Danish sund (“healthy”), Swedish sund (“sound, healthy”). Possibly related also to Dutch gezwind (“fast, quick”), German geschwind (“fast, quick”), Old English swīþ (“strong, mighty, powerful, active, severe, violent”). See swith.
- Soundly.
“So ſound he ſlept, that nought mought him awake.”
intj
Etymology: From Middle English sound, sund, isund, ȝesund, from Old English sund (“sound, safe, whole, uninjured, healthy, prosperous”), from Proto-West Germanic *sund, from Proto-Germanic *sundaz (“healthy”), merged with synonymous Old English ġesund, from Proto-West Germanic *gasund. Cognate with Scots sound, soun (“healthy, sound”), Saterland Frisian suund, gesuund (“healthy”), West Frisian sûn (“healthy”), Dutch gezond (“healthy, sound”), Low German sund, gesund (“healthy”), German gesund (“healthy, sound”), Danish sund (“healthy”), Swedish sund (“sound, healthy”). Possibly related also to Dutch gezwind (“fast, quick”), German geschwind (“fast, quick”), Old English swīþ (“strong, mighty, powerful, active, severe, violent”). See swith.
- Yes; used to show agreement or understanding.
“I found my jacket. — Sound.”
name
Etymology: From the common noun sound (“strait, inlet”).
- The strait that separates Zealand (an island of Denmark) from Scania (part of Sweden); also sometimes called by the Danish name, Øresund.
- Synonym of Plymouth Sound, Devon, England.
noun
Etymology: From Middle English sounden, from Old French sonder, from sonde (“sounding line”) of Germanic origin, compare Old English sundgyrd (“a sounding rod”), sundline (“a sounding line”), Old English sund (“water, sea”). More at Etymology 3 above.
- A long, thin probe for sounding or dilating body cavities or canals such as the urethra; a sonde.
“Most mild cases respond very nicely to such relatively simple office procedures as dilatations with sounds of increasing calibre, followed by the instillation of an ounce of 5 per cent argyrol in the bladder.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English sounden, from Old French sonder, from sonde (“sounding line”) of Germanic origin, compare Old English sundgyrd (“a sounding rod”), sundline (“a sounding line”), Old English sund (“water, sea”). More at Etymology 3 above.
- Of a whale, to dive downwards.
“The whale sounded and eight hundred feet of heavy line streaked out of the line tub before he ended his dive.”
- To ascertain, or to try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe.
“When I sounded him, he appeared to favor the proposed deal.”
“Tell me moreouer, haſt thou ſounded him,/If he appeale the Duke on ancient malice,/Or worthily as a good ſubiect ſhould/On ſome knowne ground of treacherie in him.”
- To fathom or test; to ascertain the depth of water with a sounding line or other device.
“Mariners on sailing ships would sound the depth of the water with a weighted rope.”
“As when the Sea-man […]/All fearefull foldes his ſailes, and ſounds the maine,/Lifting his prayers to the heauens for aid,/Againſt the terrour of the winds and waues.”
- To examine with the instrument called a sound or sonde, or by auscultation or percussion.
“to sound a patient, or the bladder or urethra”