palpate
1 Americanverb (used with object)
adjective
verb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
palpatesimple
-
palpatessimple
-
have palpatedperfect
-
has palpatedperfect
-
am palpatingprogressive
-
are palpatingprogressive
-
is palpatingprogressive
-
have been palpatingperfect progressive
-
has been palpatingperfect progressive
Past
-
palpatedsimple
-
had palpatedperfect
-
was palpatingprogressive
-
were palpatingprogressive
-
had been palpatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of palpate1
First recorded in 1840–50; from Latin palpātus, past participle of palpāre “to stroke, touch”; see palpus, -ate 1
Origin of palpate2
Explanation
To palpate is to examine with the hands, by pressing. Your doctor might palpate your abdomen if you have a pain in your stomach. You're most likely to come across the verb palpate in a doctor's office or another medical context. A veterinarian will palpate a limping dog to feel for broken bones or tight muscles, and it's common for a doctor to palpate the glands in your neck during a routine exam. The Latin root word is palpatus, which means "to touch."
Vocabulary lists containing palpate
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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The Cuckoo's Calling
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Once There Was
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There was no weight, no feeling of a source or origin or cause, nothing to palpate.
From The New Yorker • Feb. 11, 2019
Clayton: Yes, you palpate, exactly, you get a heart rate, you listen to the heart, you listen for the gut sounds depending on what species you’re working with.
From Slate • May 31, 2017
On race day, track veterinarians palpate every horse with their hands, watch them jog in search of abnormalities in gait and determine their fitness to race.
From Washington Post • Jul. 13, 2016
If you are able to palpate some of the superficial veins on your upper limbs and try to move them, you will find that the tunica externa prevents this.
From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013
Sounding the esophagus with bougies to determine the level of the obstruction, or to palpate the nature of the foreign body, is unnecessary and dangerous.
From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Jackson, Chevalier
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
