reverberate

[ verb ri-vur-buh-reyt; adjective ri-vur-ber-it ]
See synonyms for reverberate on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object),re·ver·ber·at·ed, re·ver·ber·at·ing.
  1. to reecho or resound: Her singing reverberated through the house.

  2. Physics. to be reflected many times, as sound waves from the walls of a confined space.

  1. to rebound or recoil.

  2. to be deflected, as flame in a reverberatory furnace.

verb (used with object),re·ver·ber·at·ed, re·ver·ber·at·ing.
  1. to echo back or reecho (sound).

  2. to cast back or reflect (light, heat, etc.).

  1. to subject to reflected heat, as in a reverberatory furnace.

adjective

Origin of reverberate

1
First recorded in 1540–50, reverberate is from the Latin word reverberātus (past participle of reverberāre to strike back). See reverberant, -ate1

Other words for reverberate

Other words from reverberate

  • re·ver·ber·a·tive [ri-vur-buh-rey-tiv, -ber-uh-], /rɪˈvɜr bəˌreɪ tɪv, -bər ə-/, adjective
  • re·ver·ber·a·tor, noun
  • un·re·ver·ber·at·ed, adjective
  • un·re·ver·ber·at·ing, adjective
  • un·re·ver·ber·a·tive, adjective

Words Nearby reverberate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use reverberate in a sentence

  • He uttered a long, loud yell, which seemed to reverberate up and down the lines for at least a mile.

  • Who should know so well as I that it is but a handloom compared to the great guns that reverberate through the age to come?

    Margaret Ogilvy | J. M. Barrie
  • Then the sound would reverberate down the long expanse of ice, and go rolling away to the mountains far beyond.

    How Canada was Won | F. S. Brereton
  • Ennis, edging desperately closer and closer to the line of victims, felt the mighty response reverberate about him.

    The Door into Infinity | Edmond Hamilton
  • The ponderous steed of the widower thundered after, making the forest reverberate with the heavy fall of his hoofs.

    A Noble Woman | Ann S. Stephens

British Dictionary definitions for reverberate

reverberate

/ (rɪˈvɜːbəˌreɪt) /


verb
  1. (intr) to resound or re-echo: the explosion reverberated through the castle

  2. to reflect or be reflected many times

  1. (intr) to rebound or recoil

  2. (intr) (of the flame or heat in a reverberatory furnace) to be deflected onto the metal or ore on the hearth

  3. (tr) to heat, melt, or refine (a metal or ore) in a reverberatory furnace

Origin of reverberate

1
C16: from Latin reverberāre to strike back, from re- + verberāre to beat, from verber a lash

Derived forms of reverberate

  • reverberant or rare reverberative, adjective
  • reverberantly, adverb
  • reverberation, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012