Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Sounding
Sound′ing
,Adj.
 Making or emitting sound; hence, sonorous; 
as, 
. sounding 
wordsDryden.
 Sound′ing
,Noun.
 1. 
The act of one who, or that which, sounds (in any of the senses of the several verbs). 
2. 
(Naut.) 
[From 
Sound 
to fathom.] (a) 
measurement by sounding; also, the depth so ascertained. 
(b) 
Any place or part of the ocean, or other water, where a sounding line will reach the bottom; – usually in the plural. 
(c) 
The sand, shells, or the like, that are brought up by the sounding lead when it has touched bottom. 
Sounding lead
, the plummet at the end of a sounding line. 
– Sounding line
, a line having a plummet at the end, used in making soundings. 
– Sounding post 
(Mus.)
, a small post in a violin, violoncello, or similar instrument, set under the bridge as a support, for propagating the sounds to the body of the instrument; – called also 
– sound post
. Sounding rod 
(Naut.)
, a rod used to ascertain the depth of water in a ship’s hold. 
– In soundings
, within the eighty-fathom line. 
Ham. Nav. Encyc.
Webster 1828 Edition
Sounding
SOUND'ING
, ppr.1.
  Causing to sound; uttering audibly.2.
  Trying the depth of water by the plummet; examining the intention or will.3.
 a.  Sonorous; making a noise.4.
  Having a magnificent sound; as words more sounding or significant.SOUND'ING
,Noun.
 1.
  The act of uttering noise;  the act or endeavoring to discover the opinion or desires; the act of throwing the lead.2.
  In surgery, the operation of introducing the sound into the bladder; called searching for the stone.Definition 2025
sounding
sounding
English
Noun
sounding (plural soundings)
-  The action of the verb to sound.
-  John Lightfoot
- And thus did the trumpets sound one-and-twenty blasts every day; […] three soundings at the three pausings of the music, […]
 
 
 -  John Lightfoot
 
Adjective
sounding (not comparable)
-  Emitting a sound.
- The sounding bell woke me up.
 
 -  Sonorous.
-  Dryden
- sounding words
 
 -  Edgar Allan Poe
- In her tomb by the sounding sea.
 
 
 -  Dryden
 
Verb
sounding
-  present participle of sound
- Little Mary was sounding very sleepy, so I tucked her in bed.
 
 
Etymology 2
sound (“examine with the instrument called a sound, or by auscultation or percussion”) + -ing.
Noun
sounding (plural soundings)
-  Test made with a probe or sonde.
-  2011, John P. Rafferty, Oceans and Oceanography (page 189)
- Soundings showed wide variations in depths of water, and from the dredgings of the bottom came new types of sediment […]
 
 
 -  2011, John P. Rafferty, Oceans and Oceanography (page 189)
 -  A measured depth of water.
- The sailor took a sounding every five minutes
 
 - The act of inserting of a thin metal rod into the urethra of the **** for medical or sexual purposes
 - (chiefly in the plural) Any place or part of the ocean, or other water, where a sounding line will reach the bottom.
 - The sand, shells, etc. brought up by the sounding lead when it has touched bottom.