sound

He was safe and sound.

In horse management a sound horse is one with no health problems that might affect its suitability for its intended work.

on the 29th of September 1840, in consideration that the plaintiff, at the request of the defendant, had bought of the defendant a certain horse, at a certain price, to wit, 30l., the defendant promised plaintiff that the horse did not exceed five years off, and that it was sound in wind and limb, perfect in vision, and free from vice; […]

1842 May 30, “Roscorla v. Thomas”, in Montagu[e] Chambers, editor, The Law Journal Reports for the Year 1842, volumes XX (New Series – volume XI, part II), London: E. B. Ince, 5 Quality Court, Chancery Lane, →OCLC, pages 214–215:

Fred assured me the floorboards were sound.

The brasswork here, how rich it is in beams, / And how, besides, it makes the whole house sound.

1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume (please specify the book number), London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC:

Refurbishing Okehampton station, kept basically sound under ownership by Devon Council, remains a work in progress and scheduled for completion next spring.

2021 November 17, Andrew Mourant, “Okehampton: a new dawn for Dartmoor”, in Rail, number 944, page 43:

With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get[…]

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:

(mathematics, logic) Having the property of soundness.

How are you? —I'm sound.

That's a sound track you're playing.

See that man over there? He's sound. You should get to know him.

(British, Ireland, slang) Good; acceptable; decent.

Sound asleep means sleeping peacefully, and often deeply.

Her sleep was sound.

a sound beating

a sound title to land

Founded in law; legal; valid; not defective.

en-adj

sound (comparative sounder, superlative soundest)

sounder (comparative)
soundest (superlative)

From Middle English sound, sund, isund, ȝesund, from Old English sund, ġesund (“sound, safe, whole, uninjured, healthy, prosperous”), from Proto-West Germanic *sund, from Proto-Germanic *gasundaz, *sundaz (“healthy”), from Proto-Indo-European *sunt-, *swent- (“vigorous, active, healthy”).
Cognate with Scots sound, soun (“healthy, sound”), Saterland Frisian suund, gesuund (“healthy”), West Frisian sûn (“healthy”), Dutch gezond (“healthy, sound”), Low German sund, gesund (“healthy”), German gesund (“healthy, sound”), Danish sund (“healthy”), Swedish sund (“sound, healthy”). Related also to Dutch gezwind (“fast, quick”), German geschwind (“fast, quick”), Old English swīþ (“strong, mighty, powerful, active, severe, violent”). See swith.


sound

So ſound he ſlept, that nought mought him awake.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 42:

en-adv

sound (comparative more sound, superlative most sound)

more sound (comparative)
most sound (superlative)


sound

I found my jacket. — Sound.

(British, Ireland, slang) Yes; used to show agreement or understanding.


sound

He turned when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.  Nobody made a sound.

The warlike sound / Of trumpets loud and clarions.

1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

Through all the Worlds are sounds, the noises of moving, and the echoes of voices and song; but upon the River is no sound ever heard, for there all echoes die.

1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 88:

A sensation perceived by the ear caused by the vibration of air or some other medium.

In trumpets for assisting the hearing, all reverbation of the trumpet must be avoided. It must be made thick, of the least elastic materials, and covered with cloth externally. For all reverbation lasts for a short time, and produces new sounds which mix with those which are coming in.

1820, Encyclopaedia Britannica; Or A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, 6th edition, volume 20, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Company, page 501:

It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street.[…]. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.

1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01:

A vibration capable of causing such sensations.

He looks like he's got it, maybe. Listen to those kids!/There's no maybe about it. That's it, that's the sound.

1954, Valentine Davies et al., The Glenn Miller Story:

(music) A distinctive style and sonority of a particular musician, orchestra etc.

For let us conſider this Prepoſition as to its meaning, (for it is the ſence, and not ſound, that is and muſt be the Principle or common Notion) […]

1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Of Power”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book I, § 18, page 23:

Stay within the sound of my voice.

Earshot, distance within which a certain noise may be heard.

(phonetics) A segment as a part of spoken language, the smallest unit of spoken language, a speech sound.

en-noun

sound (countable and uncountable, plural sounds)

→ German: Sound

→ Japanese: サウンド (saundo)

→ Korean: 사운드 (saundeu)

→ Swedish: sound

* Noun: from Middle English sownde, alteration of soun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman sun, soun, Old French son, from accusative of Latin sonus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- (“to sound, resound”).
* Verb: from Middle English sownden, sounen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suner, sounder, Old French soner (modern sonner), from Latin sonō.
* The hypercorrect -d appears in the fifteenth century. (Compare dialectal drownd, gownd for the same development.)
Displaced native Middle English swei, from Old English swēġ, from Proto-Germanic *swōgiz.


sound

When the horn sounds, take cover.

He sounded good when we last spoke.

That story sounds like a pack of lies!

How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues!

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

(copulative) To convey an impression by one's sound.

For from you ſounded out the worde of the Lord, not in Macedonia & in Achaia onely: but your faith alſo which is towarde God, ſpred abroade in all quarters, that we nede not to ſpeake any thing.

1560, [William Whittingham et al., transl.], The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. […] (the Geneva Bible), Geneva: […] Rouland Hall, →OCLC, I. Thessalonians I:8, folio 95, recto:

(intransitive) To be conveyed in sound; to be spread or published; to convey intelligence by sound.

In my opinion this claim sounds in damages rather than in an injunction.

[…]there can be no doubt that claims brought pursuant to § 1983 sound in tort.

1999, Supreme Court of the United States, City of Monterey v. Del Monte Dunes at Montery, Ltd. et al.:

(intransitive, law, often with in) To arise or to be recognizable as arising in or from a particular area of law, or as likely to result in a particular kind of legal remedy.

Sound the alarm!

He sounds the instrument.

(transitive) To cause to produce a sound.

The "e" in "house" isn't sounded.

(transitive, phonetics, of a vowel or consonant) To pronounce.

en-verb

sound (third-person singular simple present sounds, present participle sounding, simple past and past participle sounded)

sounds (present singular third-person)
sounding (participle present)
sounded (participle past)
sounded (past)


sound

Puget Sound; Owen Sound; Long Island Sound

The Sound of Denmarke, where ships pay toll.

1605, M. N. [pseudonym; William Camden], Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine, […], London: […] G[eorge] E[ld] for Simon Waterson, →OCLC:

(geography) A long narrow inlet, or a strait between the mainland and an island; also, a strait connecting two seas, or connecting a sea or lake with the ocean.

Cod sounds are an esteemed article of food.

The head was chopped off, the belly opened, the liver set aside--sometimes along with the roe, sounds, throats, and other items.

Sound (disambiguation)
Sound (geography)

From Middle English sound, sund, from Old English sund (“the power, capacity, or act of swimming; swimming; sea; ocean; water; sound; strait; channel”), from Proto-Germanic *sundą (“swimming; sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *swem- (“swimming; sea”).
Cognate with Dutch zond (“sound; strait”), Danish sund (“sound; strait; channel”), Swedish sund (“sound; strait; channel”), Icelandic sund (“sound; strait; channel”). Related to swim.


sound

The whale sounded and eight hundred feet of heavy line streaked out of the line tub before he ended his dive.

(intransitive) Of a whale, to dive downwards.

When I sounded him, he appeared to favor the proposed deal.

Tell me moreouer, haſt thou ſounded him,/If he appeale the Duke on ancient malice,/Or worthily as a good ſubiect ſhould/On ſome knowne ground of treacherie in him.

1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 23, column 1:

I was in Jeſt: / And by that offer meant to ſound your breaſt.

1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act IV, scene [i], page 40:

I've sounded my Numidians man by man.

1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:

To ascertain, or to try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe.

Mariners on sailing ships would sound the depth of the water with a weighted rope.

As when the Sea-man […]/All fearefull foldes his ſailes, and ſounds the maine,/Lifting his prayers to the heauens for aid,/Againſt the terrour of the winds and waues.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:

To fathom or test; to ascertain the depth of water with a sounding line or other device.

to sound a patient, or the bladder or urethra

(medicine) To examine with the instrument called a sound or sonde, or by auscultation or percussion.

From Middle English sounden, from Old French sonder, from sonde (“sounding line”) of Germanic origin, compare Old English sundgyrd (“a sounding rod”), sundline (“a sounding line”), Old English sund (“water, sea”). More at Etymology 3 above.


sound

Most mild cases respond very nicely to such relatively simple office procedures as dilatations with sounds of increasing calibre, followed by the instillation of an ounce of 5 per cent argyrol in the bladder.

1951 January, Gordon W. Reynolds, “The Female Urethra and Chronic Urethritis”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 1, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 34:

(medicine) A long, thin probe for sounding or dilating body cavities or canals such as the urethra; a sonde.

Sound (disambiguation)
sound (medical instrument)