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Synonyms

sound out

British  

verb

  1. (tr, adverb) to question (someone) in order to discover (opinions, facts, etc)

"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
sound out Idioms  

  1. Seek the views or intentions of, as in We'd better sound out Mom about who's using the station wagon, or Let's sound out the staff before we decide which week we should close for vacation. This expression derives from sound meaning “to measure the depth of water by lowering a line or lead.” It was transferred to other kinds of inquiry in the late 1500s, but out was not added for several centuries.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

His music is a highly accessible blend of pop, R&B and classic soul that never sounds particularly in style but never sounds out of style, either.

From The Wall Street Journal

"I can't read fast enough because I have to sound out all the words."

From Literature

I’d have done anything to get that sound out of my ears.

From Literature

We’re taught how to teach the students to write both print and cursive letters, how to sound out words from syllables, and how to create sentences by joining together verbs and nouns.

From Literature

Coal disagreed, but he still couldn’t get any sounds out of his mouth.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.