sounding

1 of 2

adjective

sound·​ing ˈsau̇n-diŋ 

1

: resonant, sonorous

2

a

: pompous

b

: imposing

soundingly adverb

sounding

2 of 2

noun

1

a

: measurement of depth especially with a sounding line

b

: the depth so ascertained

c

soundings plural : a place or part of a body of water where a hand sounding line will reach bottom

2

: measurement of atmospheric conditions at various heights

3

: a probe, test, or sampling of opinion or intention

Examples of sounding in a Sentence

Noun

The sailors were taking soundings as the ship approached the coast.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Her attempt to package her experience as an advice book has the feel of what Freud called secondary revision, the effort to master chaotic psychic material by shoehorning it into a reasonable-sounding narrative. —Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2022

In early 2013, Mikaela Sanford responded to a Craigslist job posting for a small Sacramento company with mundane-sounding responsibilities: communicating with contractors, overseeing data entry and handling client correspondence. —Melissa Korn, WSJ, 20 Aug. 2022

Noun

And it’s understood soundings from the China Film Bureau, which keeps a firm regulatory hand on the exhibition market in China, indicates no changes are planned for guidance or orders for U.S. films in that country. —Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 9 Apr. 2025

Satellite soundings can have advantages in timeliness and coverage (particularly over oceans), but the vertical resolution of weather balloon data is better. —Marshall Shepherd, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing sounding

• high-sounding
• sounding board
• sounding line
• sounding rocket

Rhymes for sounding

• bounding
• founding
• grounding
• hounding
• pounding
• rounding
• abounding
• astounding
• compounding
• confounding
• expounding
• foregrounding

Kids Definition

sounding

noun

sound·​ing

ˈsau̇n-diŋ

1

a

: measurement of depth especially with a sounding line

b

: the depth found by sounding

2

: an investigation, test, or sampling of opinion or intention