audible

1 of 3

adjective

au·​di·​ble ˈȯ-də-bəl 

: heard or capable of being heard

spoke in a barely audible voice

audibility

ˌȯ-də-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

audibly

ˈȯ-də-blē 

adverb

audible

2 of 3

noun

American football

: a substitute offensive or defensive play called at the line of scrimmage

audible

3 of 3

verb

audibled; audibling ˈȯ-də-b(ə-)liŋ 

intransitive verb

American football

: to call an audible

Chicago quarterback Jim Harbaugh audibled to a pass play …

—Peter King

Examples of audible in a Sentence

Adjective

Her voice was barely audible over the noise.

He let out an audible sigh.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The sudden appearance of Elsie, who bears more than a passing resemblance to the character of Gollum from The Lord of the Rings movies, causes Snell to let out an audible gasp. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 12 Dec. 2024

This accessibility feature provides an audible narration of on-screen events that would otherwise not be discernible through dialog alone. —PCMAG, 11 Dec. 2024

Noun

Protest audible from courtroom The sounds of a sidewalk protest over the death of Neely were audible in the 13th-floor courtroom ahead of opening statements. —Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 1 Nov. 2024

But an injury to superstar point guard Steph Curry made Golden State call an audible. —Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 18 Oct. 2024

Verb

His command at the line of scrimmage audibling is unbelievable. —Sean Treppedi, Newsweek, 14 Dec. 2024

Somehow, with their final timeout unused, the Bears let the game’s final 32 seconds tick away with only one snap being taken — a helter-skelter, audibled deep shot from Williams to Rome Odunze that fell incomplete as time expired. —Dan Wiederer, Chicago Tribune, 4 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

borrowed from Late Latin audībilis, from Latin audīre "to hear" + -bilis "subject to or capable of (the action of the verb)"; audīre perhaps going back to Indo-European *h₂eu̯is- "evident, manifest" (akin, with varying vowel placement and ablaut grades, to Greek aḯein "to perceive, hear," Sanskrit āvíṣ "evidently," Avestan auuiš, Old Church Slavic avě, javě "clearly, manifestly," Lithuanian ovyje "in reality," Hittite au-/u- "see, look") + *dheh₁- "put, place" — more at do entry 1, -able

Note: Though there is general agreement in the etymological literature on the identity of the first element of audiō, audīre, the second element is problematic. If audiō goes back to a pre-Latin *áwizdijō, the outcome of the cluster *-zdh- as -d- conflicts with its apparent outcome elsewhere as -st-, as in hasta "spear" (see yard entry 2) and perhaps in custōs "guardian" (see custody). (The cluster -zd- without an aspirate regularly yields loss of -z- with lengthening of the preceding vowel, as in nīdus "nest" from *nizdos—see nest entry 1.)

Noun

derivative of audible entry 1

Verb

derivative of audible entry 2

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1961, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1959, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing audible

• sub-audible

Kids Definition

audible

adjective

au·​di·​ble

ˈȯd-ə-bəl

: heard or capable of being heard

the sound was barely audible

audibility

ˌȯd-ə-ˈbil-ət-ē

noun

audibly

ˈȯd-ə-blē

adverb

Medical Definition

audible

adjective

au·​di·​ble ˈȯd-ə-bəl 

: heard or capable of being heard

audibility

ˌȯd-ə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

noun

plural audibilities

audibly

ˈȯd-ə-blē 

adverb