Library / English Dictionary

ECHO

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: echoes   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An imitation or repetition

Example:

the flower arrangement was created as an echo of a client's still life

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("echo" is a kind of...):

imitation (copying (or trying to copy) the actions of someone else)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A close parallel of a feeling, idea, style, etc.

Example:

Napoleon III was an echo of the mighty Emperor but an infinitely better man

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("echo" is a kind of...):

analog; analogue; parallel (something having the property of being analogous to something else)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The repetition of a sound resulting from reflection of the sound waves

Example:

she could hear echoes of her own footsteps

Synonyms:

echo; replication; reverberation; sound reflection

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("echo" is a kind of...):

reflection; reflectivity; reflexion (the ability to reflect beams or rays)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "echo"):

re-echo (the echo of an echo)

Derivation:

echo (ring or echo with sound)

echo (call to mind)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A reflected television or radio or radar beam

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("echo" is a kind of...):

reflection; reflectivity; reflexion (the ability to reflect beams or rays)

Domain category:

electronics (the branch of physics that deals with the emission and effects of electrons and with the use of electronic devices)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A reply that repeats what has just been said

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("echo" is a kind of...):

reply; response (the speech act of continuing a conversational exchange)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "echo"):

echolalia (an infant's repetition of sounds uttered by others)

Derivation:

echo (to say again or imitate)

Sense 6

Meaning:

(Greek mythology) a nymph who was spurned by Narcissus and pined away until only her voice remained

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Echo" is a kind of...):

nymph ((classical mythology) a minor nature goddess usually depicted as a beautiful maiden)

Domain category:

Greek mythology (the mythology of the ancient Greeks)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

To say again or imitate

Example:

followers echoing the cries of their leaders

Synonyms:

echo; repeat

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "echo" is one way to...):

emit; let loose; let out; utter (express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "echo"):

recite (repeat aloud from memory)

cuckoo (repeat monotonously, like a cuckoo repeats his call)

reecho (repeat back like an echo)

parrot (repeat mindlessly)

regurgitate; reproduce (repeat after memorization)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

echo (a reply that repeats what has just been said)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Ring or echo with sound

Example:

the hall resounded with laughter

Synonyms:

echo; resound; reverberate; ring

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "echo" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "echo"):

consonate (sound in sympathy)

reecho (repeat or return an echo again or repeatedly; send (an echo) back)

reecho (echo repeatedly, echo again and again)

bong (ring loudly and deeply)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The woods echo with many kinds of birds

Derivation:

echo (the repetition of a sound resulting from reflection of the sound waves)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Call to mind

Example:

His words echoed John F. Kennedy

Synonyms:

echo; recall

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "echo" is one way to...):

resemble (appear like; be similar or bear a likeness to)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

echo (the repetition of a sound resulting from reflection of the sound waves)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Now, no man ever seen a sperrit with a shadow; well then, what's he doing with an echo to him, I should like to know?

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

At last the uproar died away in three last, measured throbs, and ere their echo had ceased the Abbot struck a small gong which summoned a lay-brother to his presence.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Take him away! Take him away!” echoed a hundred voices.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It rang on my ears long and heavily; the mountains re-echoed it, and I felt as if all hell surrounded me with mockery and laughter.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The time in milliseconds between the application of the excitation pulse and the recording of the peak echo signal.

(Echo Time, NCI Thesaurus)

The echoes are sent to a computer, which makes a picture called a sonogram.

(Abdominal ultrasound, NCI Dictionary)

The echoes form a picture of body tissue called a sonogram.

(Endorectal ultrasound, NCI Dictionary)

Ultrasound technology utilizes high frequency waves and their echoes to produce an image. 2005

(Endoscopic ultrasound, NCI Thesaurus)

An invasive procedure in which sound waves (called ultrasound) are bounced off of vascular tissues from within the vessel and the echoes produce a picture (sonogram).

(Intravascular Ultrasound, NCI Thesaurus)

Or, if I were to say rather that I listened to the echoes of those thoughts, I should better express the truth.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)