plural noises
1
a
: a loud or unpleasant sound
I couldn't hear him over all the noise.
That's not music. To me it's a bunch of noise.
The furnace makes a lot of noise when it comes on.
We closed the windows to block out the traffic noise.
The landlord has been getting complaints from the tenants about noise.
b
: a sound that someone or something makes
There were noises coming from the basement.
The sink was making a gurgling noise.
Do you hear that rattling/buzzing/banging noise?
The machine hardly makes any noise.
2
a
technical
: unwanted electronic signals that harm the quality of something (such as a radio or television broadcast or a digital photograph)
b
: information that is not useful or important and that makes it more difficult to find the information that you want or need
The initial data included a lot of noise that had to be weeded out.
Cite this Entry
“Noise.” Merriam-Webster.com Simple Definition, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/simple/noise. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.
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