Rale

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rale \R[^a]le\ (r[aum]l), n. [F. r[^a]le. Cf. {Rail} the bird.]
     (Med.)
     An adventitious sound, usually of morbid origin, accompanying
     the normal respiratory sounds. See {Rhonchus}.
     [1913 Webster]
  


     Note: Various kinds are distinguished by pathologists;
           differing in intensity, as loud and small; in quality,
           as moist, dry, clicking, whistling, and sonorous; and
           in origin, as tracheal, pulmonary, and pleural.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  rale
       n : a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with
           a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders);
           "the death rattle" [syn: {rattle}, {rattling}]