reverberate

Verb

reverberate (third-person singular simple present reverberates, present participle reverberating, simple past and past participle reverberated)

1. (transitive) To cause (a sound) to be (repeatedly) bounced against one or more surfaces; to re-echo.
   • [N]o man is the Lord of any thing: / Though in and of him there be much conſiſting, / Till he communicate his parts to others, / Nor doth hee of himſelfe knovv them for aught: / Till he behold them formed in the applauſe. / VVhere th'are extended: vvho like an arch reuerb'rate / The voice againe or...c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609...
   • [S]oundes doe riſe / By mens force vnder feete, vvounded vvith noyſe / The hilles to heav'n reverberate their voyce.1603, Michel de Montaigne, “An Apologie of Raymond Sebond”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 273
2. (transitive) Followed by on (to): to deflect or divert (flames, heat, etc.) on to something.
   • Flame is reverberated in a furnace.
3. (archaic, transitive) To heat (something) by deflecting flames on to, or passing flames over, it.
   • Svb[tle]. […] I ſent you of his fæces there, calcin'd. / Out of that calx, I'ha'vvonne the ſalt of Mercurie. / Mam[mon]. By pouring on your rectefied vvater? / Svb. Yes, and reuerberating in Athanor.1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, signature...
   • Philoſophers that opinioned the vvorlds deſtruction by fire, did never dreame of annihilation, vvhich is beyond the povver of ſublunary cauſes; for the laſt and proper action of that element [fire] is but vitrification, or a reduction of a body into Glaſſe, and therefore ſome of our Chymicks...1642, [Thomas Browne], “[The First Part]”, in Religio Medici, London: […] Andrew Crooke, →OCLC, page 97
4. (transitive) To repeatedly reflect (heat, light, or other radiation).
   • Fifteen Moſques profeſſe their bravery, […] the tops dignified by many double guilded creſcents or ſpires vvhich gallantly reverberate Apollo’s yellovv flames [sunbeams] in a rich and delightfull ſplendor.1638, Tho[mas] Herbert, Some Yeares Travels Into Divers Parts of Asia and Afrique. […], 2nd edition, London: […] R[ichard] Bi[sho]p for Iacob Blome and Richard Bishop, →OCLC, book II, page 135
   • It [the left ventricle of the heart] hath thicker VValls, more compacted fleſhy Pillars, vvherevvith the heat is both more eaſily preſerved and reverberated, and the blood more ſtrongly driven.1662, Bartholinus [i.e., Thomas Bartholin], “Of the Heart in General”, in Nicholas Culpeper, Abdiah Cole, transl., Bartholinus Anatomy; […] (The Physitian’s Library), London: […] Peter Cole […]...
5. (obsolete, transitive) To drive, force, or push (someone or something) back; to repel, to repulse.
   • This banke is ſo neceſſary a defence for the Citie, that it ſerueth in ſteed of a ſtrong vvall to repulſe and reuerberate the violence of the furious vvaues of the Sea.1611, Thomas Coryate [i.e., Thomas Coryat], “My Obseruations of the Most Glorious, Peerelesse, and Mayden Citie of Venice: […]”, in Coryats Crudities Hastily Gobled Vp in Five Moneths Trauells […]...
   • In blovving vveather, I am told, moſt of the houſes in this hill are ſmothered vvith ſmoke, forced dovvn the chimneys, by the guſts of vvind reverberated from the hill behind, […]1771, [Tobias Smollett], “To Dr. Lewis”, in The Expedition of Humphry Clinker […], volume I, London: […] W. Johnston, […]; and B. Collins, […], →OCLC, page 68
6. (obsolete, transitive) To send (something) back from where it came.
7. (obsolete, transitive) Of light or sound: to fall on or hit (a surface or other thing); also, to fill or spread throughout (a space or other thing).
   • Hovv ſtill your voice vvith prudent diſcipline / My Prentize ear doth oft reverberate; […]1608, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “[Du Bartas His Second Weeke, […]. Adam. […].] The Handi-crafts. The IIII. Part of the I. Day of the II. Week.”, in Josuah Sylvester, transl., Du Bartas His...
8. (obsolete, rare, transitive) To beat or hit (something) repeatedly.
9. (intransitive) Of sound: to (repeatedly) bounce against one or more surfaces; to echo or re-echo, to resound.
   • [There were] innumerable Rills and Brooks of VVater falling from the Clifts, making a barbarous and unpleaſant Sound; and that Sound eccho'd and reverberated from innumerable Cavities and Hollovvs among the Rocks, […]1725, [Daniel Defoe], “Part II”, in A New Voyage Round the World, by a Course Never Sailed before. […], London: […] A[rthur] Bettesworth, […]; and W. Mears, […], →OCLC, page 79
   • Sometimes as an echo thou [God] reverberatest pleasantly, now as a huntsman thou killest with arrows.1850, Govind Sing [i.e., Guru Gobind Singh], “Translation of the ‘Vichitra Nátak’ or ‘Beautiful Epitome,’—a Fragment of the Sikh Granth Entitled ‘The Book of the Tenth Pontiff’. Chapter I. There is...
10. (intransitive) Chiefly followed by to or with: of a place or thing: to ring or vibrate with many echoing sounds; to re-echo, to resound.
    • This Revievv is in the firſt place entituled, An Eccho from the Sixth Trumpet; becauſe, it alluſively reverberateth, and Ecchoes, as it vvere, to vvhat vvas predicted ſhould come to paſs betvveen the ſounding of the Sixth and Seventh Trumpet [referred to in the Book of Revelation.]1669, George Wither, “A Preface to the Following Review, Offering somewhat therewith Considerable”, in Fragmenta Prophetica. Or, The Remains of George Wither, Esq; […], London: Printed, and are to be...
    • The depths of its old forest reverberated to the echoing thunder, and many a stately tree stood scorched and blackening, to whose withered boughs spring would now return in vain.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 239
11. (intransitive) Often followed by from: of heat or (less commonly) light: to be (repeatedly) reflected.
12. (figuratively, intransitive) Of information, news, etc.: to be spread widely through repetition.
    • They vvait till ſomething nevv comes out from others, examine its merits, and reject it, or make it reverberate throughout the reſt of Europe.1759, [Oliver Goldsmith], “Of the Present State of Polite Learning in Italy”, in An Enquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC...

Adjective

UK/ɹɪˈvɜːbəɹət/US/ɹəˈvɜɹbəɹət/

reverberate (comparative more reverberate, superlative most reverberate)

1. Synonym of reverberant (“that tends to reverberate (“(repeatedly) bounce against one or more surfaces”) or has reverberated”); re-echoed.
   • So vvith reuerberate ſhoutes our Globe ſhall ring, / The Muſicks cloſe being thus: God ſaue our King.1604, Tho[mas] Dekker, “And thus Went His Speech”, in The Magnificent Entertainment: Giuen to King Iames, Queene Anne His Wife, and Henry Frederick the Prince, vpon the Day of His Maiesties...
   • The loftie Hills, this vvhile attentiuely that ſtood, / As to ſurvey the courſe of euery ſeuerall Flood, / Sent forth ſuch ecchoing ſhoutes (vvhich euery vvay ſo ſhrill, / VVith the reverberate ſound the ſpacious ayre did fill) […]1612, Michael Drayton, “The Ninth Song”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great...

   Synonyms:

   reverberant

2. (rare) Ringing or vibrating with many echoing sounds; re-echoing, resounding, reverberating.
   • Make me a vvillovv Cabine at your gate, / And call vpon my ſoule vvithin the houſe, / […] / Hallovv your name to the reuerberate hilles, / And make the babling Goſsip of the aire, / Cry out Oliuia: […]c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
   • I vvas that bright Face / Reflected by the Lake, in vvhich thy Race / Read mysticke lines; (vvhich skill Pithagoras / Firſt taught to men, by a reuerberate glaſſe)1605 January 16 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Ben[jamin] Jonson, “The Queenes Masques. The First, of Blacknesse: […] [The Masque of Blackness]. Æthiopia.”, in The Characters of Two Royall...