sound wave
nounDefinition of sound wave
2
sound waves plural
: longitudinal pressure waves in any material medium regardless of whether they constitute audible sound
earthquake waves and ultrasonic waves are sometimes called sound waves
Examples of sound wave in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
During this process, sound waves and light waves are coupled, even though light waves are much faster. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "How Scattering Light Could Power a Microchip Revolution," 20 Aug. 2019 In large bodies of water, sound waves can carry undiminished for miles. — Jenny Howard, National Geographic, "Marine pollution, explained," 2 Aug. 2019 The Associated Press has reported that an interim FBI report found no evidence that sound waves could have caused the damage. — Washington Post, "Diplomats’ brain scans show differences, add to Cuba mystery," 23 July 2019 In other words, sound waves should emerge from the sonic event horizon, just as Hawking radiation emerges from a real black hole. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Sonic black holes produce “Hawking radiation,” may confirm famous theory," 30 May 2019 In August 2016 and May 2017, scientists bounced sound waves off the glacier front to create images of the underwater part of the glacier. — Anchorage Daily News, "Extreme melting occurs where ocean meets glacier near Petersburg," 27 July 2019 So Access Explorer is considering other indoor positioning methods, including using sound waves to send positioning data. — Susan Crawford, WIRED, "The Challenge of Helping Blind People Navigate Indoors," 25 June 2019 Instead, Tesla relies on radar, along with eight cameras and ultrasonic sensors — which use sound waves — to send information to its vehicles’ computers. — Levi Sumagaysay, The Mercury News, "Elon Musk calls lidar ‘stupid,’ but most self-driving cars use it. Who’s right?," 17 June 2019 William and Lawrence Bragg, a father and son, switched from X-ray research to using sound waves to locate enemy positions from the boom of their cannons. — The Economist, "How Einstein and Eddington stood against jingoism," 7 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sound wave.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more