decibel
noun
-bəl \
Definition of decibel
1a : a unit for expressing the ratio of two amounts of electric or acoustic signal power equal to 10 times the common logarithm of this ratio
b : a unit for expressing the ratio of the magnitudes of two electric voltages or currents or analogous acoustic quantities equal to 20 times the common logarithm of the voltage or current ratio
2 : a unit for expressing the relative intensity of sounds on a scale from zero for the average least perceptible sound to about 130 for the average pain level
3 : degree of loudness also : extremely loud sound —usually used in plural
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Examples of decibel in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In 2004, telecommunications officials established a standard for cellphones sold in South Korea to make shutter sounds above 60 decibels when used to take pictures, even on silent mode. — Eun-young Jeong, WSJ, "Creep Sweep: Spy Squad, Politicians Target South Korea’s Peeping Toms," 2 June 2018 The loud, sellout crowd is expected to be a couple of decibels higher with Joel Embiid making his first home playoff appearance. — Keith Pompey, Philly.com, "Sixers, returning home for Game 5, look to close out series vs. Heat," 23 Apr. 2018 On the Big Island, mongoose have proliferated, devastating local bird populations; so have Puerto Rican coquí frogs, which chirp abruptly and erratically at 90 decibels, like a mobile infestation of alarm clocks. — Jennifer Kahn, New York Times, "Should Some Species Be Allowed to Die Out?," 13 Mar. 2018 Battalion The music’s thumping at club decibels, a Medusa-like chandelier hangs over the cocktail bar and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is holding court on opening night. — Mike Sutter, San Antonio Express-News, "San Antonio’s Top 9 restaurants," 4 June 2018 On Thursday, the murmur increased a few decibels, when Nick Williams made some on-the-record comments that left little doubt about his disenchantment with his current playing time. — David Murphy, Philly.com, "Do the Phillies really have enough at-bats to go around Gabe Kapler's lineup? | David Murphy," 6 Apr. 2018 Officials consider building sound walls when the noise level meets a federal standard of at least 67 decibels. — Marci Shatzman, Sun-Sentinel.com, "New I-95 sound walls rising from Boca Raton to Deerfield Beach," 6 July 2018 The stun grenades detonate, producing a concussive blast of 180 decibels. — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, "Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s Concussive Collaboration," 3 June 2018 The team then pumps nitrogen gas into the horns, which assault the article with 150 decibels. — Sarah Scoles, WIRED, "Inside the Test Chamber for NASA's Astronaut Vehicle Double," 12 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'decibel.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for decibel
decibel
noun
English Language Learners Definition of decibel
: a unit for measuring how loud a sound is
See the full definition for decibel in the English Language Learners Dictionary
decibel
noun
-bəl \
Kids Definition of decibel
: a unit for measuring the loudness of sounds
decibel
noun
-ˌbel
\
Medical Definition of decibel
1a : a unit for expressing the ratio of two amounts of electric or acoustic signal power equal to 10 times the common logarithm of this ratio
b : a unit for expressing the ratio of the magnitudes of two electric voltages or currents or analogous acoustic quantities equal to 20 times the common logarithm of the voltage or current ratio
2 : a unit for expressing the relative intensity of sounds on a scale from zero for the average least perceptible sound to about 130 for the average pain level
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