decibel
noun /ˈdesɪbel/
/ˈdesɪbel/
- a unit for measuring how loud a sound is
- Noise from the disco reached 110 decibels.
- Gary’s voice rose several decibels as he finally lost patience with them.
Word Originearly 20th cent.: from deci- ‘ten’ + bel (the unit being one tenth of a bel).