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Palpate has been part of the English language since the 19th century. It was probably coined from the preexisting noun form palpation, which itself traces back to the Latin verb palpare, meaning "to stroke or caress." Other descendants of palpare in English include palpable (an adjective that might describe a tense moment that can be "felt"), palpitate (what the heart does when it beats so hard that it can be felt through the chest), and the verb palp ("to touch or feel"). Even feel itself is a distant cousin of palpitate, as both words can be linked to the same ancient root word that gave Latin palpare.

Examples of palpate in a Sentence

The doctor palpated his ribs to see if there was any tenderness.

Recent Examples on the Web The doctor may also physically palpate the lymph nodes for any abnormal enlargement and order additional imaging, like PET or CT scans, to examine the spread of cancer to lymph nodes nearby. — Seraphina Seow, Health.com, 23 June 2021 His friends are doctors, and one of them put King on a couch and palpated his stomach. — Beth Bragg, Anchorage Daily News, 4 Mar. 2020 Afterward, each student allegedly came up to palpate her muscle. — Janelle Griffith, NBC News, 27 Feb. 2020 For the spine, elaborate wooden racks would be used in conjunction with the surgeon’s body weight to palpate or stretch the patient. — Jack Hartnell, Time, 30 Oct. 2019 The doctor palpates her neck, peers into her throat, scopes her sinuses. — Eliza Thompson, Cosmopolitan, 18 Jan. 2018 My body continues to buzz as the physician’s assistant palpates my breasts, now made of abdominal tissue surgically sewn into place. — Bryna Siegel Finer, Philly.com, 10 Jan. 2018 On Friday afternoon, using blue chalk paint, Stacy Levy plans to palpate a few sidewalks on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to visualize the path of a stream, now out of sight, that has been running since ancient times. — Jim Dwyer, New York Times, 11 May 2017 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'palpate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.