Word.ws English Dictionary

lub-dub

lub-dub interjection: used to represent the normal rhythm of the heart on auscultation, comprising the first and second heart sounds.

Interjection

  1. (onomatopoeic) Used to represent the normal rhythm of the heart on auscultation, comprising the first and second heart sounds.
    • Ralph tried to listen above the steady lub-dub, lub-dub of Ryan's heart, but soon he grew bored. Ryan's shirt was new and the flannel still fuzzy. Ralph nipped a hole in the front of the pocket for a better view and then, lulled by the muffled lub-dub, lub-dub and the steady rise and fall of Ryan's...1982, Beverly Cleary, Ralph S. Mouse, New York, NY: HarperCollins, published 2000, →ISBN, page 51

Verb

lub-dub (third-person singular simple present lub-dubs, present participle lub-dubbing, simple past and past participle lub-dubbed)

  1. (intransitive) Of a heart, to beat.
    • I pulled my eyes away to glance downstream at a cinder cone perched at the brink of the left Esplanade above the mouth of Prospect Canyon and the still-hidden Lava Falls. My heart lub-dubbed a few beats quicker.1992, Michael P. Ghiglieri, Canyon, Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, →ISBN, page 237

Forms of lub-dub

Interjection
alternative formlub-dup
Verb
third-person singular presentlub-dubs
present participlelub-dubbing
past participlelub-dubbed
pastlub-dubbed

Origin of lub-dub

The low-pitched, longer first heart sound forms lub. The higher-pitched, shorter second heart sound forms dub.

Questions about lub-dub

What does lub-dub mean?
Lub-dub means used to represent the normal rhythm of the heart on auscultation, comprising the first and second heart sounds.
What part of speech is lub-dub?
Lub-dub can be an interjection or a verb.

Words near lub-dub in the dictionary

  1. Luas
  2. luau
  3. luaus
  4. Luayon
  5. LUB
  6. lub-dub
  7. lub-dubbed
  8. lub-dubbing
  9. lub-dubs
  10. lub-dup
  11. Luba

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lub-dub (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “lub-dub.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lub-dub. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.