English▸ noun
(plural echoes)
1
(plural echoes)
a sound or series of sounds caused by the reflection of sound waves from a surface back to the listener: the walls threw back the echoes of his footsteps.
▪ a reflected radio or radar beam.
▪ the deliberate introduction of reverberation into a sound recording.
▪ Linguistics the repetition in structure and content of one speaker's utterance by another.
2 a close parallel or repetition of an idea, feeling, style, or event:
his love for her found an echo in her own feelings.
▪ (often echoes) a detail or characteristic that is suggestive of something else:
the cheese has a sharp rich aftertaste with echoes of salty, earthy pastures.
3 archaic a person who slavishly repeats the words or opinions of another:
Clarendon, whom they reckoned the faithful echo of their master's intentions.
5 Bridge a play by a defender of a higher card in a suit followed by a lower one in a subsequent trick, used as a signal to request a further lead of that suit by their partner.
▸ verb
(echoes, echoing, echoed)
[no object] 1 (of a sound) be repeated or reverberate after the original sound has stopped:
their footsteps echoed on the metal catwalks.
▪ (of a place) resound with or reflect back a sound or sounds:
the house echoed with shouts and thundering feet.
▪ [with object] repeat (someone's words or opinions), typically to express agreement:
these criticisms are echoed in a number of other studies
[with direct speech] “A trip?” she echoed.
2 [with object] (of an object, movement, or event) be reminiscent of or have shared characteristics with:
a blue suit that echoed the color of her eyes.
– ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French or Latin, from Greek ēkhō, related to ēkhē ‘a sound’.