sounding board
noun
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The Literal Origins of Sounding Board
Beginning during the Renaissance, a flat wooden canopy called a sounding board was placed over church pulpits, amplifying the sound of the preacher's voice, carrying it to the farthest reaches of the church. Similarly, ideas can be spread by a figurative sounding board. A publication, for example, can be a sounding board for propaganda. That's one modern sense of the word. But when sound bounces off a literal sounding board, not only does it reach more people, it also comes across more clearly. Likewise, bouncing ideas off another person can lend clarity to one's thought processes. If someone comes to you and says "How does this sound?" and leaves with his or her mind made up (whether or not you've ventured a word), you have served as a very effective sounding board.
Examples of sounding board in a Sentence
Mark Travers, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
As a result, Mayo was left without an experienced sounding board during the more difficult days of the season.
—Chad Graff, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
All Brentwood football coach Jake Ford can do is offer support and be a sounding board as players who lost homes in the Palisades fire try to deal with the life-changing event.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2025
Who decided that women get to be society's sounding board for words that feel like shadows?
—Max Ufberg, hazlitt.net, 10 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for sounding board 
Dictionary Entries Near sounding board
Cite this Entry
“Sounding board.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sounding%20board. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.
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