Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To resound in a succession of echoes; reecho: synonym: echo.
  • intransitive verb To be filled with loud or echoing sound.
  • intransitive verb To have a prolonged or continuing effect.
  • intransitive verb To be repeatedly reflected, as sound waves, heat, or light.
  • intransitive verb To reecho (a sound).
  • intransitive verb To reflect (heat or light) repeatedly.
  • intransitive verb To subject (a metal, for example) to treatment in a reverberatory furnace.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Reverberated; cast back; returned; reflected.
  • Reverberant; causing reverberation.
  • To beat back; repel; repulse.
  • To return, as sound; echo.
  • To turn back; drive back; bend back; reflect: as, to reverberate rays of light or heat.—
  • Specifically, to deflect (flame or heat) as in a reverberatory furnance.
  • To reduce by reverberated heat; fuse.
  • To beat upon; fall upon.
  • To be driven back or reflected, as light or heat.
  • To echo; reëcho; resound.
  • To apply reverberated heat; use reverberatory agency, as in the fusing of metals.
  • Synonyms Recoil, etc. See rebound.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective obsolete Reverberant.
  • adjective obsolete Driven back, as sound; reflected.
  • transitive verb To return or send back; to repel or drive back; to echo, as sound; to reflect, as light, as light or heat.
  • transitive verb To send or force back; to repel from side to side.
  • transitive verb obsolete Hence, to fuse by reverberated heat.
  • intransitive verb To resound; to echo.
  • intransitive verb To be driven back; to be reflected or repelled, as rays of light; to be echoed, as sound.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive to ring with many echos
  • verb intransitive to have a lasting effect
  • verb intransitive to repeatedly return
  • verb intransitive to rebound or recoil
  • verb intransitive to shine or reflect (from a surface, etc.)
  • verb obsolete to shine or glow (on something) with reflected light

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb have a long or continuing effect
  • verb to throw or bend back (from a surface)
  • verb ring or echo with sound
  • verb treat, process, heat, melt, or refine in a reverberatory furnace
  • verb spring back; spring away from an impact
  • verb be reflected as heat, sound, or light or shock waves

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin reverberāre, reverberāt-, to repel : re-, re- + verberāre, to beat (from verber, whip; see wer- in Indo-European roots).]

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Examples

  • Words can cut and cleave a person in a way nothing else can - having a hateful word reverberate in your head for weeks can eat at the essence of your worth.

    My Defense For People Watching Their Mouths 2009

  • Tschminsk! why did the simple word reverberate upon Gertrude's ears?

    Nonsense Novels Stephen Leacock 1906

  • Their rattling calls reverberate along waterways throughout the breeding season, and their flashing wings are apparent year-round.

    CITIZEN-TIMES.com - News 2009

  • Tschminsk! why did the simple word reverberate upon Gertrude's ears?

    InstaPunk 2009

  • The results will show one-off costs of 184 million euros from an operation which will 'reverberate' by 50 million euros in future results, he said.

    FinanzNachrichten.de: Aktuelle Nachrichten 2010

  • Here, the echoes of suffering and joy reverberate from the early days of Congo Square.

    The Bushman Way of Tracking God PhD Bradford Keeney 2010

  • We have seen how politically relevant information can be injected into religious social networks and how the echo chambers of religious social networks cause such information to reverberate.

    American Grace Robert D. Putnam 2010

  • Those teachings then reverberate within the echo chambers of the friendship networks formed within religious communities, where their political relevance is reinforced.

    American Grace Robert D. Putnam 2010

  • But when those connections fray, the costs can reverberate on many levels.

    Friendship Is Tossed in MF Global Storm Gina Chon 2011

  • Labor leaders and Democratic strategists said Ohio's repeal of a recent law restricting collective-bargaining rights for 350,000 public-sector workers will reverberate in other states where Republican governors have attempted or are mulling similar actions.

    Ohio Vote on Unions Will Reverberate, Backers Say Melanie Trottman 2011

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