sound (English) - Vocabulary & GRE App

Direct Cross-Language Association: “Sound” in German

This word also exists in German! Meaning: “(music) sound”

sound

EN • English

//ˈsaʊ̯nd//(General American, Received Pronunciation)

Direct German Translations & Equivalents:

Click any term below to jump straight to its full vocabulary entry in German:

[DE]gesund [DE]Klang [DE]Schall [DE]Laut [DE]Grüüsch [DE]klingen [DE]erklingen [DE]lauten [DE]aussprechen [DE]Sund [DE]Belt [DE]sondieren [DE]Sonde

Verb Conjugation Tables & Inflections

Key Verb Forms & Inflections

Third-person singular (he/she/it):sounds

Present Participle (-ing):sounding

Past Participle:sounded

Simple Past:sounded

Definitions & Usage

adjective

Healthy.

Example: “He was safe and sound.”

Example: “In horse management a sound horse is one with no health problems that might affect its suitability for its intended work.”

Translations:[DE]gesund

adjective

Complete, solid, or secure.

Example: “Fred assured me the floorboards were sound.”

Translations:

adjective

(mathematics, logic) Having the property of soundness.

adjective

(British, Ireland, slang) Good; acceptable; decent.

Example: “How are you? —I'm sound.”

Example: “That's a sound track you're playing.”

adjective

(of sleep) Quiet and deep.

Example: “Sound asleep means sleeping peacefully, and often deeply.”

Example: “Her sleep was sound.”

adjective

Heavy; laid on with force.

Example: “a sound beating”

adjective

Founded in law; legal; valid; not defective.

Example: “a sound title to land”

adverb

Soundly.

interjection

(British, Ireland, slang) Yes; used to show agreement or understanding.

Example: “I found my jacket. — Sound.”

noun

#10

A sensation perceived by the ear caused by the vibration of air or some other medium.

Example: “He turned when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. Nobody made a sound.”

Synonyms:

noise

Translations:[DE]Klang [DE]Schall [DE]Laut [DE]Grüüsch

noun

#11

A vibration capable of causing such sensations.

Synonyms:

noise

noun

#12

(music) A distinctive style and sonority of a particular musician, orchestra etc.

Synonyms:

noise

noun

#13

Noise without meaning; empty noise.

Synonyms:

noise

noun

#14

Earshot, distance within which a certain noise may be heard.

Example: “Stay within the sound of my voice.”

Synonyms:

noise

noun

#15

(phonetics) A segment as a part of spoken language, the smallest unit of spoken language, a speech sound.

Synonyms:

noise

Translations:

verb

#16

(intransitive) To produce a sound.

Example: “When the horn sounds, take cover.”

Synonyms:

echo reecho resonate

Translations:[DE]klingen [DE]erklingen [DE]lauten

verb

#17

(copulative) To convey an impression by one's sound.

Example: “He sounded good when we last spoke.”

Example: “That story sounds like a pack of lies!”

Synonyms:

echo reecho resonate

Translations:[DE]klingen

verb

#18

(intransitive) To be conveyed in sound; to be spread or published; to convey intelligence by sound.

Synonyms:

echo reecho resonate

verb

#19

(intransitive, obsolete) To resound.

Synonyms:

echo reecho resonate

verb

#20

(intransitive, law, often with in) To arise or to be recognizable as arising in or from a particular area of law, or as likely to result in a particular kind of legal remedy.

Example: “In my opinion this claim sounds in damages rather than in an injunction.”

Synonyms:

echo reecho resonate

verb

#21

(transitive) To cause to produce a sound.

Example: “Sound the alarm!”

Example: “He sounds the instrument.”

Synonyms:

echo reecho resonate

Translations:[DE]klingen [DE]erklingen [DE]lauten

verb

#22

(transitive, phonetics, of a vowel or consonant) To pronounce.

Example: “The "e" in "house" isn't sounded.”

Synonyms:

echo reecho resonate

Translations:[DE]aussprechen

noun

#23

(geography) A long narrow inlet, or a strait between the mainland and an island; also, a strait connecting two seas, or connecting a sea or lake with the ocean.

Example: “Puget Sound; Owen Sound; Long Island Sound”

Synonyms:

noise

Translations:[DE]Sund [DE]Belt

noun

#24

The air bladder of a fish.

Example: “Cod sounds are an esteemed article of food.”

Synonyms:

noise

verb

#25

(intransitive) Of a whale, to dive downwards.

Example: “The whale sounded and eight hundred feet of heavy line streaked out of the line tub before he ended his dive.”

verb

#26

To ascertain, or to try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe.

Example: “When I sounded him, he appeared to favor the proposed deal.”

Translations:[DE]sondieren

verb

#27

To fathom or test; to ascertain the depth of water with a sounding line or other device.

Example: “Mariners on sailing ships would sound the depth of the water with a weighted rope.”

verb

#28

(medicine) To examine with the instrument called a sound or sonde, or by auscultation or percussion.

Example: “to sound a patient, or the bladder or urethra”

noun

#29

(medicine) A long, thin probe for sounding or dilating body cavities or canals such as the urethra; a sonde.

Synonyms:

noise

Translations:[DE]Sonde

Notable Literary & Historical Quotes

“on the 29th of September 1840, in consideration that the plaintiff, at the request of the defendant, had bought of the defendant a certain horse, at a certain price, to wit, 30l., the defendant promised plaintiff that the horse did not exceed five years off, and that it was sound in wind and limb, perfect in vision, and free from vice; […]”

— 1842 May 30, “Roscorla v. Thomas”, in Montagu[e] Chambers, editor, The Law Journal Reports for the Year 1842, volumes XX (New Series – volume XI, part II), London: E. B. Ince, 5 Quality Court, Chancery Lane, →OCLC, pages 214–215:

“The brasswork here, how rich it is in beams, / And how, besides, it makes the whole house sound.”

— 1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume (please specify the book number), London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC:

“Refurbishing Okehampton station, kept basically sound under ownership by Devon Council, remains a work in progress and scheduled for completion next spring.”

— 2021 November 17, Andrew Mourant, “Okehampton: a new dawn for Dartmoor”, in Rail, number 944, page 43: