1. percept resulting from stimulation of the ear by mechanical radiant energy, the frequency depending on the species.
2. a slender instrument to be introduced into body passages or cavities, especially for the dilatation of strictures or detection of foreign bodies.
3. a noise, normal or abnormal, emanating from within the body.
4. strong, in good condition and without significant defects, e.g. said of wool which has sufficient tensile strength to resist the rigors of processing; said also of teeth as sound mouth.
- ejection s's — high-pitched clicking sounds heard very shortly after the first heart sound, attributed to sudden distention of a dilated pulmonary artery or aorta or to forceful opening of the pulmonic or aortic cusps.
- friction s. — one produced by rubbing of two surfaces.
- heart s's — the sounds produced by the functioning of the heart. See heart sounds.
- Korotkoff's s's — those heard during auscultatory blood pressure determination.
- percussion s. — any sound obtained by percussion.
- respiratory s. — any sound heard on ausculation over the respiratory tract.
- succussion s's — splashing sounds heard on succussion over a distended stomach or in hydropneumothorax.
- to-and-fro s. — a peculiar friction sound or murmur heard in pericarditis and pleurisy.
- urethral s. — a long, slender instrument for exploring and dilating the urethra.
- s. waves — sound, the stimulus for hearing, consists of patterns of pressure waves generated in and passed through the air.
- white s. — that produced by a mixture of all frequencies of mechanical vibration perceptible as sound.
- s. wool — wool with no breaks in it that will stand up to the pressures of scouring, spinning and weaving.
