percuss

[ per-kuhs ]

verb (used with object)

1. Medicine/Medical. to strike or tap for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.
2. to strike (something) so as to shake or cause a shock to.

verb (used without object)

1. Medicine/Medical. to strike the surface of a part of the body for diagnostic purposes.

percuss

/ pəˈkʌs /

verb

1. to strike sharply, rapidly, or suddenly
2. med to tap on (a body surface) with the fingertips or a special hammer to aid diagnosis or for therapeutic purposes

Derived Forms

• perˈcussor, noun

Other Words From

• unper·cussed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of percuss¹

1550–60; < Latin percussus, past participle of percutere to strike hard, beat, equivalent to per- per- + -cut ( ere ), combining form of quatere to shake ( quash ) + -tus past participle suffix, with tt > ss

Word History and Origins

Origin of percuss¹

C16: from Latin percutere, from per- through + quatere to shake

Example Sentences

Touch: wood, iron, glass, steel, sometimes thrumming softly, sometimes percussing like a tight drum.

From Seattle Times

P waves percuss the rock like a drumstick, traveling quickly through incompressible material.

From Science Magazine

The doctor knelt at the bedside to perform the time-honored tradition of percussing the heart.

From New York Times

I percussed the abdomen and found an enormously enlarged and indurated spleen, reaching beyond the navel and pushing up the thoracic viscera.

From Project Gutenberg

This in my hands has been of great assistance in percussing the limits of the heart dullness.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• blip
• blow
• pat
• punch
• whack