n. [ OE. soun, OF. son, sun, F. son, fr. L. sonus akin to Skr. svana sound, svan to sound, and perh. to E. swan. Cf. Assonant, Consonant, Person, Sonata, Sonnet, Sonorous, Swan. ] 1. The peceived object occasioned by the impulse or vibration of a material substance affecting the ear; a sensation or perception of the mind received through the ear, and produced by the impulse or vibration of the air or other medium with which the ear is in contact; the effect of an impression made on the organs of hearing by an impulse or vibration of the air caused by a collision of bodies, or by other means; noise; report; as, the sound of a drum; the sound of the human voice; a horrid sound; a charming sound; a sharp, high, or shrill sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

The warlike sound
Of trumpets loud and clarions. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The occasion of sound; the impulse or vibration which would occasion sound to a percipient if present with unimpaired; hence, the theory of vibrations in elastic media such cause sound; as, a treatise on sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In this sense, sounds are spoken of as audible and inaudible. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Noise without signification; empty noise; noise and nothing else. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sense and not sound . . . must be the principle. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sound boarding, boards for holding pugging, placed in partitions of under floors in order to deaden sounds. --
Sound bow, in a series of transverse sections of a bell, that segment against which the clapper strikes, being the part which is most efficacious in producing the sound. See Illust. of Bell. --
Sound post. (Mus.) See Sounding post, under Sounding. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Sounder superl. Soundest. ] [ OE. sound, AS. sund; akin to D. gezond, G. gesund, OHG. gisunt, Dan. & Sw. sund, and perhaps to L. sanus. Cf. Sane. ] 1. Whole; unbroken; unharmed; free from flaw, defect, or decay; perfect of the kind; as, sound timber; sound fruit; a sound tooth; a sound ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Healthy; not diseased; not being in a morbid state; -- said of body or mind; as, a sound body; a sound constitution; a sound understanding. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Firm; strong; safe. [ 1913 Webster ]

The brasswork here, how rich it is in beams,
And how, besides, it makes the whole house sound. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Free from error; correct; right; honest; true; faithful; orthodox; -- said of persons; as, a sound lawyer; a sound thinker. [ 1913 Webster ]

Do not I know you a favorer
Of this new seat? Ye are nor sound. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Founded in truth or right; supported by justice; not to be overthrown on refuted; not fallacious; as, sound argument or reasoning; a sound objection; sound doctrine; sound principles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me. 2 Tim. i. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. heavy; laid on with force; as, a sound beating. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Undisturbed; deep; profound; as, sound sleep. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Founded in law; legal; valid; not defective; as, a sound title to land. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Sound is sometimes used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, sound-headed, sound-hearted, sound-timbered, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sound currency (Com.), a currency whose actual value is the same as its nominal value; a currency which does not deteriorate or depreciate or fluctuate in comparision with the standard of values. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. sonde. See Sound to fathom. ] (Med.) Any elongated instrument or probe, usually metallic, by which cavities of the body are sounded or explored, especially the bladder for stone, or the urethra for a stricture. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. sund a swimming, akin to E. swim. See Swim. ] The air bladder of a fish; as, cod sounds are an esteemed article of food. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A cuttlefish. [ Obs. ] Ainsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To ascertain the depth of water with a sounding line or other device. [ 1913 Webster ]

I sound as a shipman soundeth in the sea with his plummet to know the depth of sea. Palsgrave. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Sounded; p. pr. & vb. n. Sounding. ] [ F. sonder; cf. AS. sundgyrd a sounding rod, sundline a sounding line (see Sound a narrow passage of water). ] 1. To measure the depth of; to fathom; especially, to ascertain the depth of by means of a line and plummet. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: To ascertain, or try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe. [ 1913 Webster ]

I was in jest,
And by that offer meant to sound your breast. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

I've sounded my Numidians man by man. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Med.) To explore, as the bladder or urethra, with a sound; to examine with a sound; also, to examine by auscultation or percussion; as, to sound a patient. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Soundly. [ 1913 Webster ]

So sound he slept that naught might him awake. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. sund a narrow sea or strait; akin to Icel., Sw., Dan. & G. sund, probably so named because it could be swum across. See Swim. ] (Geog.) A narrow passage of water, or a strait between the mainland and an island; also, a strait connecting two seas, or connecting a sea or lake with the ocean; as, the Sound between the Baltic and the german Ocean; Long Island Sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Sound of Denmark, where ships pay toll. Camden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sound dues, tolls formerly imposed by Denmark on vessels passing through the Baltic Sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ OE. sounen, sownen, OF. soner, suner, F. sonner, from L. sonare. See Sound a noise. ] 1. To make a noise; to utter a voice; to make an impulse of the air that shall strike the organs of hearing with a perceptible effect. “And first taught speaking trumpets how to sound.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be conveyed in sound; to be spread or published; to convey intelligence by sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

From you sounded out the word of the Lord. 1 Thess. i. 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To make or convey a certain impression, or to have a certain import, when heard; hence, to seem; to appear; as, this reproof sounds harsh; the story sounds like an invention. [ 1913 Webster ]

Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear
Things that do sound so fair? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To sound in or
To sound into, to tend to; to partake of the nature of; to be consonant with. [ Obs., except in the phrase To sound in damages, below. ] [ 1913 Webster ] Soun[ d ]ing in moral virtue was his speech. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ] --
To sound in damages (Law), to have the essential quality of damages. This is said of an action brought, not for the recovery of a specific thing, as replevin, etc., but for damages only, as trespass, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]