All 4 Uses of
audible
in
The Mill on the Floss
- Exit Maggie, dragging her bonnet by the string, while Mr. Tulliver laughs audibly.†
Chpt 1.2 *audibly = in a manner that can be heard
- Tom was hanging over his Latin grammar, moving his lips inaudibly like a strict but impatient Catholic repeating his tale of paternosters; and Philip, at the other end of the room, was busy with two volumes, with a look of contented diligence that excited Maggie's curiosity; he did not look at all as if he were learning a lesson.†
Chpt 2.5inaudibly = so quietly it almost couldn't be heardstandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in inaudibly means not and reverses the meaning of audibly. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
- Then he pressed Maggie's hand; but there were no audible good-byes.†
Chpt 2.7audible = capable of being heard
- "Ah, well, who was it that did say so?" said Wakem, opening his desk, and moving things about, with the accompaniment of an almost inaudible whistle.†
Chpt 3.7inaudible = not capable of being heardstandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in inaudible means not and reverses the meaning of audible. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
Definitions:
-
(1)
(audible as in: barely audible) capable of being heard
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
In football, the term has come to include an instruction shouted from the line of scrimmage.
Recently, the word is also being used to indicate sounds that could be played on a phone or computer; for example "audibles include creative hellos that can be downloaded."