sounder
Noun pluralsounders
Pluralsounders
- 1Comparative of sound. Use this to say something is more solid, healthy, or sensible than another thing.
After the renovation, the foundation feels far sounder than it was.
Her plan proved sounder than the alternatives the board looked at.
Note
- 2A group of wild pigs that feed and move around together.
Like a herd of cows, but made up of wild pigs.
A sounder of wild boar crossed the muddy track at dusk.
The farmer watched a sounder root through his field at night.
Note
- 3A person or thing that makes a sound.
Like a doorbell: its whole job is to make a noise.
The bell is a simple sounder that warns everyone of danger.
Workers fitted a new sounder near the factory gate.
Similaralarm
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- 4A young wild pig.
Like a calf, but for wild pigs.
The dogs cornered a sounder near the riverbank.
A sounder squealed as it dashed into the brush.
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- 5An electronic device that finds fish underwater by using sound.
Like a flashlight made of sound, lighting up fish under the boat.
The angler checked the sounder before casting his line.
A good sounder shows where the fish are hiding below the boat.
Similarfishfinder
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- 6A tool used to measure how deep the water is at sea.
Like dropping a weighted string to feel how deep the water is.
The crew lowered the sounder to check the depth near the rocks.
Without a sounder, sailors could run aground in shallow water.
Note
- 7A person whose job is to measure how deep the water is.
Like a lookout, but listening for the water's depth instead of watching the horizon.
The sounder called out the depth as the ship neared the harbor.
Every ship once carried a sounder to warn the crew of shallow water.
Similarleadsman
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- 8A telegraph tool that lets the operator read messages by listening to its clicks.
Like reading a song by ear instead of from sheet music.
The operator listened to the sounder and wrote down each letter.
A skilled clerk could read the sounder faster than any printed tape.
- 9A short piece of music used in TV or radio to mark a moment.
Like the short tune that plays when your phone turns on.
The show played a quick sounder before the news headlines.
Each segment began with the same cheerful sounder.
Similarsting
Less common meaning
- 10A doctor's tool for listening to the heart, lungs, and other sounds inside the body.
Like a listening tube a doctor presses to your chest.
The doctor pressed the sounder to the patient's chest and listened carefully.
She warmed the sounder before placing it against his back.
Similarstethoscope
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Showing meanings only.
sounder is a form of sound
sound, adjective: Strong, solid, and not likely to break or fail. Full entry
- Spelling
- sound → sounder: add -er
Practice
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Origins
This is the comparative form of the word "sound," meaning "more sound."
This comes from "sound" plus the ending -er, meaning something that sounds.
This comes from the French word sonder.
This word for a herd of swine came through Anglo-Norman from a Germanic language, probably Old English sunor, meaning "herd of swine."