SOUNDING LINE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sounding line mean? 

• SOUNDING LINE (noun)
  The noun SOUNDING LINE has 1 sense:

1. (nautical) plumb line for determining depth

  Familiarity information: SOUNDING LINE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOUNDING LINE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(nautical) plumb line for determining depth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

lead line; sounding line

Hypernyms ("sounding line" is a kind of...):

perpendicular; plumb line (a cord from which a metal weight is suspended pointing directly to the earth's center of gravity; used to determine the vertical from a given point)

Meronyms (parts of "sounding line"):

sounding lead (a metal bob at the end of a sounding line)

Domain category:

navigation; sailing; seafaring (the work of a sailor)

 Context examples 

Then they seemed so familiar with French names and French authors: but my amazement reached its climax when Miss Temple asked Helen if she sometimes snatched a moment to recall the Latin her father had taught her, and taking a book from a shelf, bade her read and construe a page of Virgil; and Helen obeyed, my organ of veneration expanding at every sounding line.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)