sound barrier

English

Noun

sound barrier (countable and uncountable, plural sound barriers)

1. (uncountable) Sonic barrier, the sudden increase in drag (resistance) and other effects experienced by moving objects when their speed approaches that of sound or becomes supersonic (which used to be considered a barrier to higher speeds).
2. (countable) A noise barrier, a structure beside a highway designed to reduce the noise of traffic.
   • 2021 October 6, Howard Johnston, “Regional News: Anglia”, in RAIL, number 941, page 29:

     St Ives: The guided busway on the old railway alignment to Cambridge has just passed its tenth anniversary. Railfuture has noted its down-at-heel physical appearance, with dirty concrete beams, damaged sound barriers, and unmanaged vegetation.

Translations

drag and other effects of approaching the speed of sound

• Danish: lydmur c
• Finnish: äänivalli (fi)
• French: mur du son (fr) m
• German: Schallmauer (de) f
• Italian: barriera del suono f, muro del suono m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lydmur m

  Nynorsk: lydmur m

• Polish: bariera dźwięku f, bariera dźwiękowa f
• Russian: звуково́й барье́р (ru) m (zvukovój barʹjér)
• Swedish: ljudvall (sv) c
• Tagalog: tunuging hadlang
• Turkish: ses duvarı (tr)
• Ukrainian: звукови́й бар'є́р m (zvukovýj barʺjér)

noise-reducing structure

• Danish: støjvold c, støjskærm c, støjafskærmning c
• Finnish: meluaita (fi), meluvalli (fi)
• French: mur anti-bruit m
• German: Lärmschutzwand (de) f, Lärmschutzwall m
• Italian: barriera antirumore f, barriera acustica f
• Swedish: ljudbarriär c
• Turkish: ses bariyeri

See also

• speed of sound