stethoscope

[ steth-uh-skohp ]

noun

, Medicine/Medical.

1. an instrument used in auscultation to convey sounds in the chest or other parts of the body to the ear of the examiner.

stethoscope

/ ˈstɛθəˌskəʊp; stɛˈθɒskəpɪ; ˌstɛθəˈskɒpɪk /

noun

1. med an instrument for listening to the sounds made within the body, typically consisting of a hollow disc that transmits the sound through hollow tubes to earpieces
2. Also calledobstetric stethoscope a narrow cylinder expanded at both ends to recieve and transmit fetal sounds

stethoscope

1. An instrument used in listening to internal body sounds. Most familiarly, physicians and nurses use it to listen to heart sounds.

Derived Forms

• stethoscopy, noun
• stethoscopic, adjective

Other Words From

• stetho·scoped adjective
• ste·thos·co·pist [ste-, thos, -k, uh, -pist], noun
• ste·thos·co·py [ste-, thos, -k, uh, -pee, steth, -, uh, -skoh-], noun
• un·stetho·scoped adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stethoscope¹

First recorded in 1810–20; stetho- + -scope

Word History and Origins

Origin of stethoscope¹

C19: from French, from Greek stēthos breast + -scope

Example Sentences

Their heart and lungs were checked with a stethoscope, and their eyes, ears, nose, teeth and fur examined.

From BBC

Her stethoscope was still draped around her neck, and she was wearing raspberry-hued sneakers — comfortable enough for a 12-hour shift and, as she noted with characteristic emergency-medicine dark humor, good at camouflaging blood stains.

From New York Times

The smartphone's built-in motion sensors can detect and record these vibrations, including those that doctors cannot hear with a stethoscope.

From Science Daily

Dressed in dark blue scrubs, a stethoscope slung over his shoulders, Husam Almanassra looks worn down in the selfie he posted to X on Nov. 5.

From Los Angeles Times

He pressed a stethoscope against Fig’s heaving chest.

From Literature