Each week, Verywell explains a term from health, medicine, science, or technology.
Auscultation
How to say it:Auscultation(oss-cull-TATE-shun)
What it means: Listening to the sounds organs make inside the body.
Where it comes from: Latin,auscultatio, “to listen”
Terry Vine / Getty Images
Where you might see or hear it: One of the most common things your provider will do at a routine check-up is to listen to your heart with astethoscope. They may also listen to your lungsas you breathe. This is called “auscultating.”
If you’re having symptoms, listening to your organs can help figure out if there’s a problem. For example, a provider can listen to thesounds in your abdomento see if your digestive tract is working.
While it’s just as easy to say, “my provider listens to my lungs to see how they’re working,” you could also say that your provider auscultates your lungs at every appointment.
What Lung Sounds Say About Your Health
SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Merriam-Webster.Definition of auscultation.
Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Merriam-Webster.Definition of auscultation.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Merriam-Webster.Definition of auscultation.
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