stethoscope

American  

[steth-uh-skohp] / ˈstɛθ əˌskoʊp /

noun

Medicine/Medical.

• stethoscopes
  plural

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

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stethoscope British  

/ ˈstɛθəˌskəʊp /

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 called: obstetric stethoscope.  a narrow cylinder expanded at both ends to recieve and transmit fetal sounds

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stethoscope Cultural  

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stethoscopist
  noun
• stethoscopy
  noun
• stethoscoped
  adjective
• stethoscopic
  adjective
• unstethoscoped
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stethoscopes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of stethoscope

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

Explanation

A stethoscope is the device that doctors and nurses use to listen to your heartbeat. Many medical workers walk around wearing stethoscopes around their necks. Made up of the Greek stethos, "chest or breast," and the suffix -scope, "an instrument for seeing," the meaning of stethoscope is fairly straightforward. It's an instrument that's used to "see," or more accurately, to hear, inside your chest. During a medical exam, your doctor will listen to your heartbeat and the sound your lungs make as you breathe deeply. Veterinarians use stethoscopes too, for listening to their animal patients' hearts and lungs.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stethoscope stethoscopes

“CNN seeks to be a stethoscope attached to the hypothetical heart of the war, and to present us with its hypothetical pulse,” the French theorist Jean Baudrillard wrote, critiquing the conflict as a media spectacle.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

He asked them to bring their “tools” — broom, stethoscope, an oxygen tank—and posed them against a lightly wrinkled cloth backdrop with natural light.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

In her medical bag she also has a stethoscope.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2025

After thinking big, the new organization settled on the iconic stethoscope as its first product, ultimately validating their low-cost, open-source, repairable device as just as good as pricier alternatives.

From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2025

The squatting man had one end of a stethoscope to his ears and the other pressed on the chest of the man in the hole.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Now, it is teeming with young healthcare professionals in scrubs and stethoscopes waiting for patients.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026

There are plans to introduce the new stethoscopes to GP practices in south London, Sussex and Wales.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2025

The center has a medical booth and a more private exam room with two stethoscopes hanging on the wall.

From Washington Times ● May 22, 2023

After Merrill's tweet went viral, Delta followed up with her, saying it would switch to automatic blood pressure cuffs and "real" stethoscopes, as well as consider glucometers at gates.

From Salon ● Jan. 10, 2023

The marines had started to use stethoscopes and divining rods to see if they could find them.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt