sound

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Vibrations transmitted through an elastic solid or a liquid or gas, with frequencies in the approximate range of 20 to 20,000 hertz, capable of being detected by human organs of hearing.
2. n. Transmitted vibrations of any frequency.
3. n. The sensation stimulated in the organs of hearing by such vibrations in the air or other medium.
4. n. Such sensations considered as a group.
5. n. A distinctive noise: a hollow sound.
6. n. The distance over which something can be heard: within sound of my voice.
7. n. Linguistics An articulation made by the vocal apparatus: a vowel sound.
8. n. Linguistics The distinctive character of such an articulation: The words bear and bare have the same sound.
9. n. A mental impression; an implication: didn't like the sound of the invitation.
10. n. Auditory material that is recorded, as for a movie.
11. n. Meaningless noise.
12. n. Music A distinctive style, as of an orchestra or a singer.
13. n. Archaic Rumor; report.
14. v. To make or give forth a sound: The siren sounded.
15. v. To be given forth as a sound: The fanfare sounded.
16. v. To present a particular impression: That argument sounds reasonable.
17. v. To cause to give forth or produce a sound: sounded the gong.
18. v. To summon, announce, or signal by a sound: sound a warning.
19. v. Linguistics To articulate; pronounce: sound a vowel.
20. v. To make known; celebrate: "Nations unborn your mighty names shall sound” ( Alexander Pope).
21. v. To examine (a body organ or part) by causing to emit sound; auscultate.
22. sound off To express one's views vigorously: was always sounding off about higher taxes.
23. sound off To count cadence when marching in military formation.
24. adj. Free from defect, decay, or damage; in good condition.
25. adj. Free from disease or injury. See Synonyms at healthy.
26. adj. Having a firm basis; unshakable: a sound foundation.
27. adj. Financially secure or safe: a sound economy.
28. adj. Based on valid reasoning: a sound observation. See Synonyms at valid.
29. adj. Free from logical flaws: sound reasoning.
30. adj. Logic Of or relating to an argument in which all the premises are true and the conclusion follows from the premises.
31. adj. Thorough; complete: a sound flogging.
32. adj. Deep and unbroken; undisturbed: a sound sleep.
33. adj. Free from moral defect; upright.
34. adj. Worthy of confidence; trustworthy.
35. adj. Marked by or showing common sense and good judgment; levelheaded: a sound approach to the problem.
36. adj. Compatible with an accepted point of view; conservative.
37. adj. Law Legally valid.
38. adv. Thoroughly; deeply: sound asleep.
39. n. A long, relatively wide body of water, larger than a strait or a channel, connecting larger bodies of water.
40. n. A long, wide ocean inlet.
41. n. The air bladder of a fish.
42. v. To measure the depth of (water), especially by means of a weighted line; fathom.
43. v. To try to learn the attitudes or opinions of: sounded out her feelings.
44. v. To probe (a body cavity) with a sound.
45. v. To measure depth.
46. v. To dive swiftly downward. Used of a whale or fish.
47. v. To look into a possibility; investigate.
48. n. An instrument used to examine or explore body cavities, as for foreign bodies or other abnormalities, or to dilate strictures in them.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Healthy; not diseased; having all the organs and faculties complete and in perfect action: as, a sound mind; a sound body.
2. Whole; uninjured; unhurt; unmutilated; not lacerated or bruised: as, a sound limb.
3. Free from special defect, decay, or injury; unimpaired; not deteriorated: as, a sound ship; sound fruit; a sound constitution.
4. Morally healthy; honest; honorable; virtuous; blameless.
5. Without defect or flaw in logic; founded in truth; firm; strong; valid; that cannot be refuted or overthrown: as, a sound argument.
6. Right; correct; well-founded; free from error; pure: as, sound doctrine.
7. Reasoning accurately; logical; clear-minded; free from erroneous ideas; orthodox.
8. Founded in right and law; legal; not defective in law: as, a sound title; sound justice.
9. Unbroken and deep; undisturbed: said of sleep.
10. Thorough; complete; hearty.
11. Of financial condition, solvent; strong; not undermined by loss or waste: as, that bank is one of our soundest institutions.
12. Synonyms Hearty, hale, hardy, vigorous.
13. Entire, unbroken, undecayed.
14. 5 and
15. Sane, rational, sensible.
16. n. Safety.
17. To heal; make sound.
18. To become sound; heal.
19. Soundly; heartily; thoroughly; deeply: now used only of sleeping.
20. n. A narrow passage of water not a stream, as a strait between the mainland and an isle, or a strait connecting two seas, or connecting a sea or lake with the ocean: as, Long Island Sound; the Sound (between Denmark and Sweden).
21. n. In zoöl: The swimming-bladder or air-bladder of a fish. The sound is a hollow vesicular organ, originating from the digestive tract—in fact, a rudimentary lung, the actual homologue of the lungs of air-breathing vertebrates, though in fishes, as in other branchiates, respiration is effected by gills. (See air-bladder.) Some fishes' sounds are an esteemed article of food, as that of the cod, which when fried is something like an oyster so cooked; others are valuable as a source of isinglass.
22. n. A cuttlefish.
23. To measure the depth of; fathom; try or test, as the depth of water and the quality of the ground, by sinking a plummet or lead attached to a line on which is marked the number of fathoms. Machines of various kinds are also used to indicate the depth to which the lead has descended. A cavity in the lower end of the lead is partially filled with tallow, by means of which some part of the earth, sand, gravel, shells, etc., of the bottom adhere to it and are drawn up. Numerous devices are in use for testing the nature of the bottom, as a pair of large forceps or scoops carried down by a weight, which are closed when they strike the ground, and so inclose some of the sand, shells, etc., a cup at the bottom of a long leaden weight, which is closed by a leathern cover when full, etc. See the accompanying cuts of apparatus used in sounding. Brooke's apparatus is said to be the first by which soundings of over 2,000 fathoms were made and specimens of the bottom obtained.
24. In surgery, to examine by means of a sound or probe, especially the bladder, in order to ascertain whether a stone is present or not.
25. Figuratively, to try; examine; discover, or endeavor to discover, that which is concealed in the mind of; search out the intention, opinion, will, or wish of.
26. To ascertain the depth of (water) in a ship's hold by lowering a sounding-rod into the pumpwell.
27. To make a sounding with, or carry down in sounding, as a whale the tow-line of a boat.
28. To use the line and lead in searching the depth of water.
29. To descend to the bottom; dive: said of fish and other marine animals. When a sperm-whale sounds, the fore parts are lifted a little out of water, a strong spout is given, the nose is dipped, the back and small are rounded up, the body bends on a cross-axis, the flukes are thrown up 20 or 30 feet, and the whale goes straight down head first, in less than its own length of water.
30. n. In surgery any elongated instrument, usually metallic, by which cavities of the body are sounded or explored; a probe; specifically, an instrument used for exploring or dilating the urethra, or for searching the bladder for stone.
31. n. The sensation produced through the ear, or organ of hearing; in the physical sense, either the vibrations of the sounding-body itself, or those of the air or other medium, which are caused by the sounding-body, and which immediately affect the ear. A musical sound, or tone, is produced by a continued and regular series of vibrations (or, in the physical sense, may be said to be these vibrations themselves); while a noise is caused either by a single impulse, as an electrical spark, or by a series of impulses following at irregular intervals, A sounding-body is a body which is in such a state of vibration as to produce a sound (see vibration). Thus, a tuning-fork, a bell, or a piano-string, if struck, will, in consequence of its elasticity, continue to vibrate for some time, producing, in the proper medium, a sound; similarly, the column of air in an organ-pipe becomes a sounding-body when a current of air is continually forced through the mouthpiece past the lip; again, an inelastic body, as a card, may become a sounding-body if it receives a series of blows at regular intervals and in sufficiently rapid succession, as from the teeth of a revolving cog-wheel. The vibrations of the sounding-body are conveyed to the ear by the intervening medium, which is usually the air, but may be any other gas, a liquid (as water), or an elastic solid. The presence of such a medium is essential, for sound is not propagated in a vacuum. The vibrations of the sounding-body, as a tuning-fork, produce in the medium a series of waves (see wave) of condensation and rarefaction, which are propagated in all directions with a velocity depending upon the nature of the medium and its temperature—for example, the velocity of sound in air is about 1,090 feet per second at 32° F. (0° C.), and increases slightly as the temperature rises; in other gases the velocity varies inversely as the square root of the density; it is consequently nearly four times as great in hydrogen. In liquids the velocity is greater than in air—for water, somewhat more than four times as great. In solids the velocity varies very widely, being relatively small in inelastic substances like wax and lead, and very great (two to three miles per second) in wood and steel. Sound-waves may differ
32. n. A particular quality or character of tone, producing a certain effect on the hearer, or suggesting a particular cause; tone; note: as, a joyful sound; a sound of woe.
33. n. Vocal utterance.
34. n. Hearing-distance; ear-shot.
35. n. Empty and unmeaning noise.
36. n. Same as signal, 2.
37. n. Synonyms Noise, Sound, Tone. Noise is that effect upon the ears which does not convey, and is not meant to convey, any meaning: as, the noise made by a falling chimney; street noises. Sound is a general word, covering noise and intelligible impressions upon the auditory nerves: as, the sound of cannon, of hoofs, of a trumpet of prayer. Tone is sound regarded as having a definite place on the musical scale, or as modified by feeling or physical affections, or as being the distinctive quality of sound possessed by a person or thing permanently or temporarily: as, his tones were those of anger; a piano of peculiarly rich tone. For technical distinctions, see def. 1 above, noise, and tone.
38. To produce vibrations affecting the ear; cause the sensation of sound; make a noise; produce a sound; also, to strike the organs of hearing with a particular effect; produce a specified audible effect: as, the wind sounds melancholy.
39. To cause something (as an instrument) to sound; make music.
40. To seem or appear when uttered; appear on narration: as, a statement that sounds like a fiction.
41. To be conveyed in sound; be spread or published.
42. To tend; incline.
43. To resound.
44. To cause to produce sound; set in audible vibration.
45. To utter audibly; pronounce; hence, to speak; express; repeat.
46. To order or direct by a sound; give a signal for by a certain sound: as, to sound a retreat.
47. To spread by sound or report; publish or proclaim; celebrate or honor by sounds.
48. To signify; import.
49. To examine by percussion, as a wall in order to discover hollow places or studding; specifically, in med., to examine by percussion and auscultation, in order to form a diagnosis by means of sounds heard: as, to sound the lungs.
50. An obsolete or dialectal contracted form of swound, swoon.

Wiktionary

1. adj. Healthy.
2. adj. Complete, solid, or secure.
3. adj. mathematics, logic (argument, logical system) having the soundness property.
4. adj. UK, slang Good.
5. adj. Quiet and deep. Sound asleep means sleeping peacefully, often deeply.
6. interj. UK, slang Yes; used to show agreement or understanding, generally without much enthusiasm.
7. n. A sensation perceived by the ear caused by the vibration of air or some other medium.
8. n. A vibration capable of causing this.
9. n. music A distinctive style and sonority of a particular musician, orchestra etc
10. v. intransitive To produce a sound.
11. v. intransitive, copulative To convey an impression by one's sound.
12. v. intransitive, law To arise or to be recognizable as arising within a particular area of law.
13. v. transitive To cause to produce a sound.
14. v. phonetics To pronounce a vowel or a consonant.
15. n. geography : Long narrow inlet. (Puget Sound, Owen Sound, etc.)
16. v. intransitive dive downwards, used of a whale.
17. v. transitive probe
18. v. test
19. n. A probe (e.g. a surgeon's tool)
20. n. this sense?) A sex toy comparable to a very narrow dildo inserted into a penis through the urethra

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The air bladder of a fish.
2. n. (Zoöl.), obsolete A cuttlefish.
3. adj. Whole; unbroken; unharmed; free from flaw, defect, or decay; perfect of the kind.
4. adj. Healthy; not diseased; not being in a morbid state; -- said of body or mind.
5. adj. Firm; strong; safe.
6. adj. Free from error; correct; right; honest; true; faithful; orthodox; -- said of persons.
7. adj. Founded in truth or right; supported by justice; not to be overthrown on refuted; not fallacious.
8. adj. heavy; laid on with force.
9. adj. Undisturbed; deep; profound.
10. adj. Founded in law; legal; valid; not defective.
11. adv. Soundly.
12. n. (Geog.) A narrow passage of water, or a strait between the mainland and an island; also, a strait connecting two seas, or connecting a sea or lake with the ocean.
13. v. To measure the depth of; to fathom; especially, to ascertain the depth of by means of a line and plummet.
14. v. Fig.: To ascertain, or try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe.
15. v. (Med.) To explore, as the bladder or urethra, with a sound; to examine with a sound; also, to examine by auscultation or percussion.
16. v. To ascertain the depth of water with a sounding line or other device.
17. n. (Med.) Any elongated instrument or probe, usually metallic, by which cavities of the body are sounded or explored, especially the bladder for stone, or the urethra for a stricture.
18. n. The peceived object occasioned by the impulse or vibration of a material substance affecting the ear; a sensation or perception of the mind received through the ear, and produced by the impulse or vibration of the air or other medium with which the ear is in contact; the effect of an impression made on the organs of hearing by an impulse or vibration of the air caused by a collision of bodies, or by other means; noise; report.
19. n. The occasion of sound; the impulse or vibration which would occasion sound to a percipient if present with unimpaired; hence, the theory of vibrations in elastic media such cause sound.
20. n. Noise without signification; empty noise; noise and nothing else.
21. v. To make a noise; to utter a voice; to make an impulse of the air that shall strike the organs of hearing with a perceptible effect.
22. v. To be conveyed in sound; to be spread or published; to convey intelligence by sound.
23. v. To make or convey a certain impression, or to have a certain import, when heard; hence, to seem; to appear.
24. v. To cause to make a noise; to play on.
25. v. To cause to exit as a sound.
26. v. To order, direct, indicate, or proclain by a sound, or sounds; to give a signal for by a certain sound.
27. v. To celebrate or honor by sounds; to cause to be reported; to publish or proclaim.
28. v. To examine the condition of (anything) by causing the same to emit sounds and noting their character.
29. v. obsolete To signify; to import; to denote.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water
2. adj. exercising or showing good judgment
3. n. the sudden occurrence of an audible event
4. adj. (of sleep) deep and complete
5. v. cause to sound
6. v. appear in a certain way
7. adj. having legal efficacy or force
8. n. a large ocean inlet or deep bay
9. n. the subjective sensation of hearing something
10. n. (phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language
11. v. give off a certain sound or sounds
12. n. mechanical vibrations transmitted by an elastic medium
13. adj. free from moral defect
14. n. the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
15. adj. financially secure and safe
16. adj. in excellent physical condition
17. v. announce by means of a sound
18. v. utter with vibrating vocal chords
19. adj. in good condition; free from defect or damage or decay
20. adj. thorough.
21. n. the audible part of a transmitted signal
22. v. make a certain noise or sound
23. adj. logically valid
24. v. measure the depth of (a body of water) with a sounding line