Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Sound?

\Sound\, n. [AS. sund a swimming, akin to E. swim. See {Swim}.] The air bladder of a fish; as, cod sounds are an esteemed article of food.
\Sound\, n. (Zo["o]l.) A cuttlefish. [Obs.] --Ainsworth.
\Sound\, a. [Compar. {Sounder}; superl. {Soundest}.] [OE. sound, AS. sund; akin to D. gezond, G. gesund, OHG. gisunt, Dan. & Sw. sund, and perhaps to L. sanus. Cf. {Sane}.] 1. Whole; unbroken; unharmed; free from flaw, defect, or decay; perfect of the kind; as, sound timber; sound fruit; a sound tooth; a sound ship. 2. Healthy; not diseased; not being in a morbid state; -- said of body or mind; as, a sound body; a sound constitution; a sound understanding. 3. Firm; strong; safe. The brasswork here, how rich it is in beams, And how, besides, it makes the whole house sound. --Chapman. 4. Free from error; correct; right; honest; true; faithful; orthodox; -- said of persons; as, a sound lawyer; a sound thinker. Do not I know you a favorer Of this new seat? Ye are nor sound. --Shak. 5. Founded in truth or right; supported by justice; not to be overthrown on refuted; not fallacious; as, sound argument or reasoning; a sound objection; sound doctrine; sound principles. Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me. --2 Tim. i. 13. 6. heavy; laid on with force; as, a sound beating. 7. Undisturbed; deep; profound; as, sound sleep. 8. Founded in law; legal; valid; not defective; as, a sound title to land. Note: Sound is sometimes used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, sound-headed, sound-hearted, sound-timbered, etc. {Sound currency} (Com.), a currency whose actual value is the same as its nominal value; a currency which does not deteriorate or depreciate or fluctuate in comparision with the standard of values.
\Sound\, adv. Soundly. So sound he slept that naught might him awake. --Spenser.
\Sound\, n. [AS. sund a narrow sea or strait; akin to Icel., Sw., Dan. & G. sund, probably so named because it could be swum across. See {Swim}.] (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; as, the Sound between the Baltic and the german Ocean; Long Island Sound. The Sound of Denmark, where ships pay toll. --Camden. {Sound dues}, tolls formerly imposed by Denmark on vessels passing through the Baltic Sound.
\Sound\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Sounded}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Sounding}.] [F. sonder; cf. AS. sundgyrd a sounding rod, sundline a sounding line (see {Sound} a narrow passage of water).] 1. To measure the depth of; to fathom; especially, to ascertain the depth of by means of a line and plummet. 2. Fig.: To ascertain, or try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe. I was in jest, And by that offer meant to sound your breast. --Dryden. I've sounded my Numidians man by man. --Addison. 3. (Med.) To explore, as the bladder or urethra, with a sound; to examine with a sound; also, to examine by auscultation or percussion; as, to sound a patient.
\Sound\, v. i. To ascertain the depth of water with a sounding line or other device. I sound as a shipman soundeth in the sea with his plummet to know the depth of sea. --Palsgrave.
\Sound\, n. [F. sonde. See {Sound} to fathom.] (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.
\Sound\, n. [OE. soun, OF. son, sun, F. son, fr. L. sonus akin to Skr. svana sound, svan to sound, and perh. to E. swan. Cf. {Assonant}, {Consonant}, {Person}, {Sonata}, {Sonnet}, {Sonorous}, {Swan}.] 1. 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; as, the sound of a drum; the sound of the human voice; a horrid sound; a charming sound; a sharp, high, or shrill sound. The warlike sound Of trumpets loud and clarions. --Milton. 2. 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; as, a treatise on sound. Note: In this sense, sounds are spoken of as audible and inaudible. 3. Noise without signification; empty noise; noise and nothing else. Sense and not sound . . . must be the principle. --Locke. {Sound boarding}, boards for holding pugging, placed in partitions of under floors in order to deaden sounds. {Sound bow}, in a series of transverse sections of a bell, that segment against which the clapper strikes, being the part which is most efficacious in producing the sound. See Illust. of {Bell}. {Sound post}. (Mus.) See {Sounding post}, under {Sounding}.
\Sound\, v. i. [OE. sounen, sownen, OF. soner, suner, F. sonner, from L. sonare. See {Sound} a noise.] 1. 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. ``And first taught speaking trumpets how to sound.'' --Dryden. How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues! --Shak. 2. To be conveyed in sound; to be spread or published; to convey intelligence by sound. From you sounded out the word of the Lord. --1 Thess. i. 8. 3. To make or convey a certain impression, or to have a certain import, when heard; hence, to seem; to appear; as, this reproof sounds harsh; the story sounds like an invention. Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear Things that do sound so fair? --Shak. {To sound in} or {into}, to tend to; to partake of the nature of; to be consonant with. [Obs., except in the phrase To sound in damages, below.] Soun[d]ing in moral virtue was his speech. --Chaucer. {To sound in damages} (Law), to have the essential quality of damages. This is said of an action brought, not for the recovery of a specific thing, as replevin, etc., but for damages only, as trespass, and the like.
\Sound\, v. t. 1. To causse to make a noise; to play on; as, to sound a trumpet or a horn. A bagpipe well could he play and soun[d]. --Chaucer. 2. To cause to exit as a sound; as, to sound a note with the voice, or on an instrument. 3. To order, direct, indicate, or proclain by a sound, or sounds; to give a signal for by a certain sound; as, to sound a retreat; to sound a parley. The clock sounded the hour of noon. --G. H. Lewes. 4. To celebrate or honor by sounds; to cause to be reported; to publish or proclaim; as, to sound the praises of fame of a great man or a great exploit. 5. To examine the condition of (anything) by causing the same to emit sounds and noting their character; as, to sound a piece of timber; to sound a vase; to sound the lungs of a patient. 6. To signify; to import; to denote. [Obs.] --Milton. Soun[d]ing alway the increase of his winning. --Chaucer.