noise

/noyz/, n., v., noised, noising.

n.

1. sound, esp. of a loud, harsh, or confused kind: deafening noises.

2. a sound of any kind: to hear a noise at the door.

3. loud shouting, outcry, or clamor.

4. a nonharmonious or discordant group of sounds.

5. an electric disturbance in a communications system that interferes with or prevents reception of a signal or of information, as the buzz on a telephone or snow on a television screen.

6. Informal. extraneous, irrelevant, or meaningless facts, information, statistics, etc.: The noise in the report obscured its useful information.

7. Obs. rumor or gossip, esp. slander.

8. make noises, Informal. to speak vaguely; hint: He is making noises to the press about running for public office.

v.t.

9. to spread, as a report or rumor; disseminate (usually fol. by about or abroad): A new scandal is being noised about.

v.i.

10. to talk much or publicly.

11. to make a noise, outcry, or clamor.

[1175-1225; ME < OF < L nausea seasickness. See NAUSEA]

Syn. 1. clatter, blare, uproar, tumult. NOISE, CLAMOR, DIN, HUBBUB, RACKET refer to unmusical or confused sounds. NOISE is the general word and is applied equally to soft or loud, confused or inharmonious sounds: street noises.

CLAMOR and HUBBUB are alike in referring to loud noises resulting from shouting, cries, animated or excited tones, and the like; but in CLAMOR the emphasis is on the meaning of the shouting, and in HUBBUB the emphasis is on the confused mingling of sounds: the clamor of an angry crowd; His voice could be heard above the hubbub. DIN suggests a loud, resonant noise, painful if long continued: the din of a boiler works. RACKET suggests a loud, confused noise of the kind produced by clatter or percussion: He always makes a racket when he cleans up the dishes. 2. See sound¹.

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Undesired sound that is intrinsically objectionable or that interferes with other sounds being listened to.

In electronics and information theory, noise refers to those random, unpredictable, and undesirable signals, or changes in signals, that mask the desired information content. In radio, this noise is called static; in television, it is called snow. White noise is a complex signal or sound covering the entire range of component frequencies, or tones, all of which possess equal intensity.

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▪ acoustics

      in acoustics, any undesired sound, either one that is intrinsically objectionable or one that interferes with other sounds that are being listened to. In electronics and information theory, noise refers to those random, unpredictable, and undesirable signals, or changes in signals, that mask the desired information content. Noise in radio transmission appears as static and in television as snow.

      White noise is a complex signal or sound that covers the entire range of audible frequencies, all of which possess equal intensity. White noise is analogous to white light, which contains roughly equal intensities of all frequencies of visible light. A good approximation to white noise is the static that appears between radio stations on the FM band.

      Pink noise contains all frequencies of the audible spectrum but with an intensity that decreases with increases in frequency at a rate of three decibels per octave. This decrease roughly corresponds to that of acoustic (nonelectronic) musical instruments or ensembles; thus, pink noise has been used in checking listening rooms and auditoriums for their acoustic characteristics, such as reverberation time and undesirable resonance behaviour. It is also used in audio equalizers to produce a linear intensity-versus-frequency response in the listening environment.

      Coloured noise refers to noise that may contain a wide audible spectrum but shows a greater intensity in a narrow band of frequencies. An example is “whistling” wind.

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