Meaning & use
sounding board
A person or group used to test out ideas and get honest reactions before deciding or acting on them.
See it in a sentence
She used her business partner as a sounding board before pitching the idea to investors.
The piano's sounding board amplifies the vibrations of the strings into a fuller sound.
A note on using this word
The figurative sense, someone who listens and gives feedback, is far more common today than the original literal, acoustic meaning.
Words with a similar meaning
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