sounding
/ˈsaʊndɪŋ/noun, adjective, verb
sounding is spelled S-O-U-N-D-I-N-G: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 7.9 times per million words in written English, the 8,266th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sounding means “The action of the verb to sound” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sounding is soundings.
How many letters and syllables are in sounding?
| Letters | 8: S-O-U-N-D-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.9 times per million words; the 8,266th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is sounding?
Sounding appears 7.9 times per million words in written English, the 8,266th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sounding?
- US /ˈsaʊndɪŋ/
Sounding has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sounding.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with sounding?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as sounding from its last stressed vowel (/aʊndɪŋ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of sounding
- soundings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sounding mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The action of the verb to sound.
- 2
A test made with a probe or sonde.
Morning sounding at Chatham showed dry adiabatic lapse rate all the way to 700 mb this morning […]
- 3
A measured depth of water.
The sailor took a sounding every five minutes
- 4
Any place or part of the ocean, or other water, where a sounding line will reach the bottom.
We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas; Until we strike soundings in the Channel of old England
- 5
The sand, shells, etc. brought up by the sounding lead when it has touched bottom.
- 6
The act of inserting of a thin metal rod into the urethra of the penis for medical or sexual purposes.(See urethral sounding).
adjective
- 1
Emitting a sound.
The sounding bell woke me up.
- 2
Sonorous.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of sound
Little Mary was sounding very sleepy, so I tucked her in bed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sounding in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense test made with a probe:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Sondierung |
| Portuguese | sondagem |
| Spanish | sondeo, sonda |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sounding come from?
From sound (“produce a sound”) + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).