whispering gallery
Sound-carrying curved ceiling
A whispering gallery is an enclosed space—usually a dome, rotunda, or curved corridor—where acoustics carry whispered sounds along the walls to distant points.
A person standing at one spot can hear words whispered from far across the room: We tested the whispering gallery at St. Paul's Cathedral.
The term extends to any space where secrets travel unexpectedly.
Prolonged reflected sound
- soundwaveTraveling pressure disturbance
- echoReflected sound wave
- amplificationIncrease in intensity
- curvatureDeviation from flatness
reflection · transmission · audibility · frequency · phenomenon · focusing · propagation · interference
Soft, indistinct continuous sound
- hushAbsence of sound
- softlyWith little volume
- faintWeak and indistinct
- intimateClosely personal or private
hushed · eavesdrop · secrets · voice · communication · listener · speaker · private
Rounded vault forming roof
- rotundaCircular domed chamber
- St Paul's CathedralBaroque London church
- CapitolLegislative assembly building
- PantheonRoman temple for all gods
basilica · cathedral · vault · circular · apse · ambulatory · colonnade · arcade
Desire to learn
- demonstrationPublic display of opinion
- physicsScience of matter and energy
- experimentSystematic investigation procedure
- discoveryAct of finding something
marvel · wonder · science · educational · interactive · exhibit · soundscape · perceptual
reverberation
Prolonged reflected sound
- soundwaveTraveling pressure disturbance
- echoReflected sound wave
- amplificationIncrease in intensity
curvature · reflection · transmission · audibility · frequency · phenomenon · focusing · propagation · interference · diffraction
murmur
Soft, indistinct continuous sound
intimate · hushed · eavesdrop · secrets · voice · communication · listener · speaker · private · conversation
dome
Rounded vault forming roof
- rotundaCircular domed chamber
- St Paul's CathedralBaroque London church
- CapitolLegislative assembly building
Pantheon · basilica · cathedral · vault · circular · apse · ambulatory · colonnade · arcade · atrium
curiosity
Desire to learn
- demonstrationPublic display of opinion
- physicsScience of matter and energy
- experimentSystematic investigation procedure
discovery · marvel · wonder · science · educational · interactive · exhibit · soundscape · perceptual
- resonanceresonance, harmonic, fundamental, natural frequency, node
whispering gallerydead room
Acoustically absorbent enclosure
recording studio · padded cell · isolation booth · soundproofed · sound booth
whisper, whispers, whispered, whisperer, whisperers, gallery, galleries