| sonorous | 1. Giving sound when struck; resonant; as, sonorous metals. 2. Loud-sounding; giving a clear or loud sound; as, a sonorous voice. 3. Yielding sound; characterised by sound; vocal; sonant; as, the vowels are sonorous. 4. Impressive in sound; high-sounding. "The Italian opera, amidst all the meanness and familiarty of the thoughts, has something beautiful and sonorous in the expression." (Addison) "There is nothing of the artificial Johnsonian balance in his style. It is as often marked by a pregnant brevity as by a sonorous amplitude." (E. Everett) 5. <chest medicine> Sonant; vibrant; hence, of sounds produced in a cavity, deep-toned; as, sonorous rhonchi. Sonorous figures, a tumour which emits a clear, resonant sound on percussion. Origin: L. Sonorus, fr. Sonor, -oris, a sound, akin to sonus a sound. (04 Mar 1998) |
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| sonorous rale | A cooing or snoring sound often produced by the vibration of a projecting mass of viscid secretion in a large bronchus. (05 Mar 2000) |