Meaning & use
reverberation
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountabletechnical
The way a sound keeps echoing and fading in a space after the original noise has stopped, or one of those echoes.
Grammar: Uncountable for the effect in general (reverberation in the hall), countable for a single echo (the reverberations of the bell).
Patterns
- the reverberation of something
- reverberation in something
The reverberation of the bell lasted for several seconds.
The concert hall is designed to reduce unwanted reverberation.
We felt the reverberations of the explosion through the floor.
nounusually pluralfigurative
A lasting, far-reaching effect that spreads out from a major event or decision.
Grammar: Most often plural and followed by 'of' or 'for': the reverberations of the crisis.
Patterns
- the reverberations of something
- reverberations for something
The resignation sent reverberations through the whole government.
The reverberations of the economic crash lasted for years.
The scandal had reverberations well beyond the company.
Word forms
| plural | reverberations |
|---|
Common combinations
- long reverberation
- The cathedral gives every note a long reverberation.
- reverberation time
- The engineer measured the reverberation time of the studio.
- feel the reverberations
- Even in the next town we felt the reverberations of the blast.
- send reverberations through
- The ruling sent reverberations through the industry.
- political reverberations
- The speech had political reverberations for months.
Synonyms and how they differ
- echo
- Echo is the everyday word for a single repeated sound, while reverberation is a more technical, drawn-out, overlapping effect.
- resonance
- Resonance means a deep, full sound or a strong emotional meaning, rather than sound that lingers after stopping.
- repercussion
- Repercussion is only about consequences of an event and never about sound.
- aftershock
- Aftershock means a smaller shock after a big one, while reverberation suggests effects that spread out widely.
Opposites
Word family
- reverberate verb
- to echo repeatedly, or to have lasting effects
- reverberant adjective
- echoing for a long time
- reverberating adjective
- echoing or spreading outward
Commonly confused: reverberation or reverence?
reverberation vs reverence
Reverence means deep respect and has nothing to do with sound, though the two words start similarly.
Practice
The news of the factory closing had far-reaching ___ across the town.
Choose one answer.
Reverberations here means effects that spread from one event. The other nouns look similar but do not mean spreading effects.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reverberation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.