sounding machine

plural sounding machines

1. nauticalA device used to measure water depth beneath a ship, consisting of a winch or windlass that deploys and retrieves a weighed line or wire.

   1 more example

   My fist went out like an arrow from a released bow, and Tom Spink staggered back, tripped against the corner of the tarpaulin-covered sounding-machine, and sprawled on the deck. He tried to make a fight of it, but I followed him up, giving him no chance to set himself or recover from the surprise of my first onslaught.

   1914, Jack London, The Mutiny of the Elsinore, Chapter XLV