auscultation

Noun

auscultation (countable and uncountable, plural auscultations)

1. Diagnosis of disorders by listening to the sounds of the internal organs, usually using a stethoscope.
   • They thus appeared to be taking her, together, for the moment, and almost for sociability, as prepared to proceed to gratuitous extremities; the upshot of which was in turn, that after much interrogation, auscultation, exploration, much noting of his own sequences and neglecting of hers, had duly...1902, Henry James, The Wings of the Dove
   • The movement was also responsible for the recognition of several new signs of death such as fixed, dilated pupils and auscultation of the heart.1973, David Hendin, Death as a Fact of Life, George J. McLeod, published 1973, page 22