Definitions

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

  • noun A unit used to express relative difference in power or intensity, usually between two acoustic or electric signals, equal to ten times the common logarithm of the ratio of the two levels.

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

  • noun A common measure of sound intensity that is one tenth of a bel on the logarithmic intensity scale. It is defined as dB = 10 * log10(P 1/P 2), where P1 and P2 are the relative powers of the sound.

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

  • noun a logarithmic unit of sound intensity; 10 times the logarithm of the ratio of the sound intensity to some reference intensity

Etymologies

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

[deci– + bel.]

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Examples

  • A decibel is the basic unit of sound level; it denotes a ratio of intensity to a reference sound.

    Analysis 2010

  • A decibel is a tenth-root-of-ten fold increase in power delivery. en Español

    Yahoo! Answers: Latest Questions 2010

  • Remember, though, that a decibel is a ratio measurement relative to some standard.

    Gadget Freak Files 2010

  • A decibel is the basic unit of sound level; it denotes a ratio of intensity to a reference sound.

    Analysis 2010

  • A decibel is the basic unit of sound level; it denotes a ratio of intensity to a reference sound.

    Analysis 2010

  • A decibel is a tenth-root-of-ten fold increase in power delivery. en Español

    Yahoo! Answers: Latest Questions 2010

  • A few years ago curiosity led me to sneak a decibel meter into a ballgame between the

    Corpus Christi Caller Times, Caller.com Stories 2010

  • A decibel is a tenth-root-of-ten fold increase in power delivery. en Español

    Yahoo! Answers: Latest Questions 2010

  • A decibel is the basic unit of sound level; it denotes a ratio of intensity to a reference sound.

    Analysis 2010

  • They may tend to congregate more and speak a decibel louder than us.

    TODAYonline 2008

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