A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words
1367 entries
sough
A sough is a drainage tunnel driven to take water out of a mine, running on a slight fall to daylight so the workings above it stay dry by gravity alone. Some are miles long and several centuries old and are still running. The same spelling, pronounced to rhyme with plough, is a completely different word meaning the sighing sound of wind in trees or in a chimney.
Etymology
Both words are Old English and they are unrelated. The drainage word is a northern and midland mining term, related to a root meaning to drain or to suck. The sound word is imitative and is a relative of sigh.