decibels
DES-i-belz/ˈdɛsɪbɛlz/
- 1Plural of decibel.
The concert peaked at well over a hundred decibels near the speakers.
City planners measured the highway noise in decibels at several intersections.
Note
A regular plural, made with a plain -s, for a unit that is one tenth of a bel. Because the scale is logarithmic, these units do not add up like meters or grams. By the formula dB = 10 log₁₀(P₁/P₂), a rise of ten decibels marks a tenfold ratio of intensity, and twenty marks a hundredfold, so a few more decibels can mean a much louder sound.
decibels is a form of decibel
decibel, noun: A unit equal to one tenth of a bel, used to measure the intensity of a sound or signal on a logarithmic scale. Full entry
- Forms
- decibeldecibels plural
- Spelling
- decibel → decibels: add -s
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /z/.
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