sound

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Old English gesund; akin to Old High German gisunt healthy Date: 13th century 1. a. free from injury or disease ; exhibiting normal health b. free from flaw, defect, or decay <

sound timber

> 2. solid, firm; also stable 3. a. free from error, fallacy, or misapprehension <

sound reasoning

> b. exhibiting or based on thorough knowledge and experience <

sound scholarship

> c. legally valid <

a sound title

> d. logically valid and having true premises e. agreeing with accepted views ; orthodox 4. a. thorough b. deep and undisturbed <

a sound sleep

> c. hard, severe <

a sound whipping

> 5. showing good judgment or sense <

sound advice

> Synonyms: see healthy, valid • soundly adverb • soundness noun II. adverb Date: 14th century to the full extent ; thoroughly <

sound asleep

> III. noun Etymology: Middle English soun, from Anglo-French son, sun, from Latin sonus, from sonare to sound; akin to Old English swinn melody, Sanskrit svanati it sounds Date: 13th century 1. a. a particular auditory impression ; tone b. the sensation perceived by the sense of hearing c. mechanical radiant energy that is transmitted by longitudinal pressure waves in a material medium (as air) and is the objective cause of hearing 2. a. a speech sound <

a peculiar r-sound

> b. value in terms of speech sounds <

-cher of teacher and -ture of creature have the same sound

> 3. archaic rumor, fame 4. a. meaningless noise b. obsolete meaning c. the impression conveyed ; import 5. hearing distance ; earshot <

within sound of your voice

> 6. recorded auditory material 7. a particular musical style characteristic of an individual, a group, or an area <

the Nashville sound

> IV. verb Date: 13th century transitive verb 1. a. to cause to sound <

sound a trumpet

> b. pronounce 3a 2. to put into words ; voice 3. a. to make known ; proclaim b. to order, signal, or indicate by a sound <

sound the alarm

> 4. to examine by causing to emit sounds <

sound the lungs

> 5. chiefly British to convey the impression of ; sound like <

that sounds a logical use of resources — Economist

> intransitive verb 1. a. to make a sound b. resound c. to give a summons by sound <

the bugle sounds to battle

> 2. to make or convey an impression especially when heard <

it sounds good to me

> <

you sound just like your mother

> • soundable adjective V. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English sund swimming, sea & Old Norse sund swimming, strait; akin to Old English swimman to swim Date: 14th century 1. a. a long broad inlet of the ocean generally parallel to the coast b. a long passage of water connecting two larger bodies (as a sea with the ocean) or separating a mainland and an island 2. the air bladder of a fish VI. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French sonder, from Old French *sonde sounding line, probably from Old English or Middle English sund- (as in Old English sundlīne sounding line) from sund sea Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to measure the depth of ; fathom 2. to try to find out the views or intentions of ; probe — often used with out 3. to explore or examine (a body cavity) with a sound intransitive verb 1. a. to ascertain the depth of water especially with a sounding line b. to look into or investigate the possibility <

sent commissioners…to sound for peace — Thomas Jefferson

> 2. to dive down suddenly — used of a fish or whale VII. noun Etymology: French sonde, from Middle French, literally, sounding line Date: 1739 an elongated instrument for exploring or sounding body cavities