Word: noise Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English noyse, noise, from Old French noise (“a dispute, wrangle, strife, noise”), of uncertain origin. According to some, from Latin nausia, nausea (“disgust, nausea”); according to others, from Latin noxia (“hurt, harm, damage, injury”); but neither explanation is satisfactory in regard to either form or sense. Potentially a reduced form of Old French enoiier (“to bother, to disturb”), from Latin inodio (“to make repulsive”) - which would make it a doublet of English annoy (“to bother, to irritate”) and English ennui (“boredom, jadedness, depression”). Compare Piedmontese nojé (“to bother, to annoy”), though this fails to explain the final /z/. Pronunciation: /ˈnoɪ̯z/, /ˈnɔɪ̯z/ 1. Various sounds, usually unwanted or unpleasant. Labels: uncountable Example: He knew that it was trash day, when the garbage collectors made all the noise. Example: The heavens turn about in a most rapid motion without noise to us perceived. 2. Any sound. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The sudden noise made everyone jump. Example: She crept up behind him not making a noise. 3. Sound or signal generated by random fluctuations. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The complete flutter of the distant signal would probably so entirely destroy its identity that the crosstalk from it would be a substantially unintelligible noise. 4. Any part of a signal or data that reduces the clarity, precision, or quality of the desired output. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: signal-to-noise ratio Example: On the technical side, the scanning and OCR of texts, in combination with the graphic design of high school text books, introduced a certain level of noise into the corpus which in turn led to a higher tagging error rate than usual and may affect count precision. 5. Variation or deviation generated by random fluctuations. Labels: countable, uncountable 6. Unwanted fuss or bustle; useless activity. Labels: broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable Example: In order to provide coherence and confidence, the leader must dramatically turn down the noise level in the organization, eliminate any unnecessary distractions that inevitably get in the way of execution, and banish the fear of uncertainty. 7. The measured level of variation in gene expression among cells, regardless of source, within a supposedly identical population. Labels: countable, uncountable 8. Rumour or complaint. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The problems with the new computer system are causing a lot of noise at Head Office. Example: 1709-1710, Thomas Baker, Reflections on Learning What noise have we had for fome Years about Transplantation of diseases and transfusion of blood! 9. Speech that is suggestive of an attitude or opinion. Labels: countable, informal, uncountable Example: Despite encouraging noises made by politicians from time to time, the two sides there have never been further from an agreement. 10. Music, in general; a concert; also, a company of musicians; a band. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: The king has his noise of gypsies. Example: That we on earth, with undiscording voice, / May rightly answer that melodious noise 11. A genre of rock music that uses static and other non-musical sounds, also influenced by art rock. Labels: countable, uncountable