sound pressure

noun

: the difference between the actual pressure at any point in the field of a sound wave at any instant and the average pressure at that point

Examples of sound pressure in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The unit that the meter is measuring is sound pressure in decibels, but weighted towards the frequencies that the human ear is more sensitive to. Charlotte Hu, Popular Science, 7 Sep. 2023 One microphone is pointed in, monitoring the sound pressure in the ear canal and trying to drive it to zero while on a feedback loop. Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 22 Mar. 2023 Since fish calls change with environmental conditions like wind speed, water temperature, tidal amplitude and sound pressure level, the noises themselves can be an indicator of how the ecosystem is faring -- especially in oceans that are rapidly experiencing climate change. ABC News, 23 Jan. 2022 The proprietary planar magnetic speaker has a high SPL (sound pressure level), low distortion, and exceptional clarity. Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2023 With a sound pressure level (SPL) rating of 89dB at 0.5m, the loudspeaker has sufficient volume even with USB bus power. Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2023 That converts to over 172 decibels of sound pressure, an unimaginably loud noise. Aatish Bhatia, Discover Magazine, 13 July 2018 Do high sound pressure levels of crowing in roosters necessitate passive mechanisms for protection against self-vocalization? Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 31 Dec. 2017 AirPods 2 only met two of the standards, bandwidth and THD, while AirPods Pro met all of them except EIN, registering 37 decibel sound pressure levels (dB SPL), when the standard calls for 32 or less. Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 17 Nov. 2022 See More

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

Word History

First Known Use

1893, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sound pressure was in 1893

Dictionary Entries Near sound pressure

Cite this Entry

“Sound pressure.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sound%20pressure. Accessed 30 Sep. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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