acoustic shock

noun

The symptoms that can be caused by unexpected loud sounds (an acoustic incident) received through a telephone headset.

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Meanings

nounacoustic shock (countable and uncountable, plural acoustic shocks)

plural acoustic shocks

  1. countableuncountableThe symptoms that can be caused by unexpected loud sounds (an acoustic incident) received through a telephone headset.

    More than 1,000 people working in call centres across Britain are thought to have suffered the effects of acoustic shock, a little-known hearing condition triggered when people are exposed to a loud and unexpected noise.

    2006 November 19, Jo Revill, “1,000 call centre workers suffer from noise shock”, in The Observer
Cite this entry
APA

acoustic shock. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acoustic%20shock

MLA

“acoustic shock.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acoustic%20shock. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acoustic shock,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acoustic%20shock.

Source: acoustic shock on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.