reverb

noun

plural reverbs
1
: an electronically produced echo effect in live and recorded music
The new record is shrouded in damp clouds of reverb, with faint impressions of its jangling guitars sneaking through like the sun behind an overcast sky.Jude Noel
[Lykke] Li's vocals are soaked in reverb, guitars and drums echoing in the background, turning the song into a dark, emotional plea from a heartbroken lover.Shaina Pearlman
The audience will hear the orchestra acoustically and the effects pedals through the amplification system. Those effects will include vibrato, distortions, pitch and timbral modulations, echoes and reverbs.Kerry Clawson
a reverb effect/sound
2
: something (such as a device, a feature, or a software application) for producing reverb
Thankfully, Vox added a built-in reverb into the amp …Alexander Briones
usually used before another noun
analog/digital reverb units
adjusted the reverb settings
When you buy a reverb pedal, there's almost always a knob that lets you select the type of reverb that you want.Michael Pierce and Giulio Chiarenza

Examples of reverb in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The songs collage together scenes and observations amid country-rock arrangements that glimmer with reverb and feature loose, lassoing guitar solos. Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 23 Feb. 2024 His voice had lots of reverb and there was instrumentation backing his vocals, including plenty of pedal steel. William Earl, Variety, 11 Feb. 2024 The guitar must be warm but just a bit bright, with a touch of drive and a long-tail reverb that hangs in the air. Katie Thornton, Rolling Stone, 21 Jan. 2024 Now the reverb is drowned out by a professional vocal isolation booth. Bethonie Butler, Washington Post, 3 Jan. 2024 Sometimes the vocals have a little more reverb, but that doesn’t describe Hotline necessarily. Jonathan Cohen, SPIN, 26 Dec. 2023 Over chalky pedal steel and piano drenched in reverb, North Carolina indie rocker Indigo De Souza looks back on her own knotted history with glassy eyes. Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 2023 The handclaps suddenly become massive, and the reverb on the guitars, and suddenly there’s a clarity to all of it. Chris Willman, Variety, 22 Nov. 2023 All the background vocals were at the correct volume and the right reverbs were used. Kristin Robinson, Billboard, 8 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'reverb.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

short for reverberation

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of reverb was in 1959

Dictionary Entries Near reverb

Cite this Entry

“Reverb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reverb. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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