sounding

1 of 2

adjective

sound·​ing ˈsau̇n-diŋ How to pronounce sounding (audio)
soundingly adverb

sounding

2 of 2

noun

1
a
: measurement of depth especially with a sounding line
b
: the depth so ascertained
c
soundings plural : a place or part of a body of water where a hand sounding line will reach bottom
2
: measurement of atmospheric conditions at various heights
3
: a probe, test, or sampling of opinion or intention

Examples of sounding in a Sentence

Noun The sailors were taking soundings as the ship approached the coast.
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Adjective
Her attempt to package her experience as an advice book has the feel of what Freud called secondary revision, the effort to master chaotic psychic material by shoehorning it into a reasonable-sounding narrative. Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2022 In early 2013, Mikaela Sanford responded to a Craigslist job posting for a small Sacramento company with mundane-sounding responsibilities: communicating with contractors, overseeing data entry and handling client correspondence. Melissa Korn, WSJ, 20 Aug. 2022
Noun
In these three soundings, Democrats, Republicans, and independents all gave the most attention to the views of friends and family. Karlyn Bowman, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024 Meanwhile, actual polling organizations such as Reuters and YouGov had done their soundings and found Harris the winner in the eyes of a clear majority — though not as large a majority as CNN’s poll. Ron Elving, NPR, 14 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for sounding 

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of sounding was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near sounding

Cite this Entry

“Sounding.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sounding. Accessed 14 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

sounding

noun
sound·​ing
ˈsau̇n-diŋ
1
a
: measurement of depth especially with a sounding line
b
: the depth found by sounding
2
: an investigation, test, or sampling of opinion or intention
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