echoes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of echo.

   The canyon walls threw back faint echoes of our shouting.

   Overlapping echoes filled the abandoned subway tunnel.

   Note

   The plural takes -es after the final -o, following the pattern of heroes and potatoes rather than the plain -s of most nouns. It is especially at home in the figurative sense, where echoes of an earlier thing are traces of it: echoes of his father's style, echoes of an old quarrel. The spelling is shared with the verb form, so only the sentence shows which one you are reading.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of echo.

   Every gunshot echoes off the cliff faces for several seconds.

   Her closing argument echoes a theme the prosecutor raised on the first day.

   Note

   It pairs with a singular subject in the present tense: it, she, the hall, a rumor. The verb works with or without an object. A canyon echoes, or a canyon echoes a shout. The figurative uses keep that split: a rumor echoes through a town, while a speaker echoes someone else's opinion. At the bridge table, a player echoes to tell a partner about the cards they hold.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2