Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - noise

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, disturbance, ~, from Latin nausea nausea  Date: 13th century  1. loud, confused, or senseless shouting or outcry  2.  a. sound; especially one that lacks agreeable musical quality or is noticeably unpleasant  b. any sound that is undesired or interferes with one's hearing of something  c. an unwanted signal or a disturbance (as static or a variation of voltage) in an electronic device or instrument (as radio or television); broadly a disturbance interfering with the operation of a usually mechanical device or system  d. electromagnetic radiation (as light or radio waves) that is composed of several frequencies and that involves random changes in frequency or amplitude  e. irrelevant or meaningless data or output occurring along with desired information  3. common talk ; rumor; especially slander  4. something that attracts attention the play…will make little ~ in the world — Brendan Gill  5. something spoken or uttered  6. a style of rock music that is loud, often discordant, and usually uses electronic ~ (as feedback)  • ~less adjective  • ~lessly adverb  II. verb  (~d; noising)  Date: 14th century  intransitive verb  1. to talk much or loudly  2. to make a ~  transitive verb to spread by rumor or report — usually used with about or abroad the scandal was quickly ~d about