SOUND
What does "SOUND" mean?
Vibrations travelling through air or another medium that can be heard.
Meanings
- Vibrations that travel through a medium and are detected by the ear. The only sound in the cave was water dripping somewhere far off.
- To produce or make a noise; to give a particular impression. That plan sounds risky to me.
- In good condition; healthy, reliable, or solid. The old bridge is structurally sound despite its age.
- To measure the depth of water, or to probe something for information. The crew sounded the channel before sailing in. technical
- A narrow stretch of water connecting two larger bodies. Ferries cross the sound twice an hour.
Did you know?
- Three unrelated words spelled 'sound' collided in English: the one meaning noise, the one meaning healthy (as in 'safe and sound'), and the one meaning to measure depth all arrived from different roots and just happen to match.
Word origin
The 'noise' sense comes from Latin 'sonus' via Old French 'soun'; the 'healthy' sense is a separate word from Old English 'gesund'; the 'measure depth' sense traces to Old French 'sonder'.
Remember it
SOUND contains OUN, the shape your mouth makes saying 'ooh' before a noise reaches it.
A little poem
Space holds its silence-
no air to carry a scream,
the star burns unheard.
haiku
Wordplay
- The doctor said the patient was perfectly sound, then the patient turned up the stereo and proved it in a second sense.
What it teaches
Being heard requires something in between; nothing carries across a perfect vacuum, not even a cry.
Quick facts
What does SOUND mean?
Vibrations travelling through air or another medium that can be heard.
Is SOUND a valid word?
Yes — SOUND is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SOUND?
SOUND has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does SOUND come from?
The 'noise' sense comes from Latin 'sonus' via Old French 'soun'; the 'healthy' sense is a separate word from Old English 'gesund'; the 'measure depth' sense traces to Old French 'sonder'.
What can SOUND teach us?
Being heard requires something in between; nothing carries across a perfect vacuum, not even a cry.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.