Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

sonar

Syllabification: (so·nar)
Pronunciation: /ˈsōˌnär/

Translate sonar | into Italian
Definition of sonar

noun

  • a system for the detection of objects under water and for measuring the water’s depth by emitting sound pulses and detecting or measuring their return after being reflected.
  • an apparatus used in a sonar system.
  • the method of echolocation used in air or water by animals such as bats or whales.

Origin:

1940s: from so(und) na(vigation and) r(anging), on the pattern of radar

sonar in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of sonar in the British & World English dictionary