echo

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A sound you hear again after it bounces off a hard surface such as a wall or cliff.

   Grammar: Countable: an echo, many echoes.

   Patterns

   • the echo of something
   • an echo in something

   We shouted into the canyon and heard our echo a moment later.

   The echo of footsteps filled the empty hall.

   Cathedrals are known for their long echo.

2. 2nouncountablefigurative

   Something that reminds you of an earlier event, idea or style.

   Grammar: Often followed by of: an echo of the past.

   Patterns

   • an echo of something

   The new policy is an echo of an older plan.

   Her laugh was an echo of her mother's.

   Critics heard echoes of jazz in his music.

3. 3verbintransitive

   To be heard again as sound bounces back, or to fill a place with repeated sound.

   Grammar: No object; often used with a place: the hall echoed, shouts echoed through the tunnel.

   Patterns

   • echo through something
   • echo with something

   Her voice echoed through the empty stadium.

   The valley echoed with the sound of church bells.

   The shot echoed around the mountains.

4. 4verbtransitivefigurative

   To repeat what someone else has said or felt, often in agreement.

   Grammar: Takes an object: echo a view, echo someone's words.

   Patterns

   • echo someone's words
   • echo a view

   The senator echoed the president's concerns.

   The children echoed every word the teacher said.

   I can only echo what my colleague just said.

Word forms

Common combinations

hear an echo

You can hear an echo in the empty room.

echo through

The cry echoed through the canyon.

faint echo

A faint echo of laughter drifted back.

echo someone's words

He echoed her words exactly.

echo chamber

Social media can become an echo chamber.

Synonyms and how they differ

reverberation

Reverberation is the more technical word for sound lasting as it bounces about a space, while echo is a clear repeated sound.

repeat

Repeat can be done on purpose by anyone; echo suggests a bounce or copy of what came before.

resound

Resound means to fill a place with loud sound and need not repeat a sound heard earlier.

Word family

echoey adjective

producing a lot of echo

echoic adjective

imitating a sound, as in echoic words

echolocation noun

finding objects by sound reflections, as bats do

echo chamber noun

a situation where people hear only similar opinions

Commonly confused: echo or eco?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “echo”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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