: an abnormal sound heard accompanying the normal respiratory sounds on auscultation of the chest
Examples of rale in a Sentence
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The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that retail sales grew 0.6% in August, beating expectations, with core retail rales rising 0.7% and July staying unrevised at 0.5%.
—
Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 17 Sep. 2025
Literally nothing: no rales, no breath sounds, nothing.
—Discover Magazine, 12 Nov. 2019
For my preceptor, similarly, those wet rales were as recognizable as a familiar jingle.
—Siddhartha Mukherjee, The New Yorker, 23 Mar. 2017
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Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 17 Sep. 2025
Literally nothing: no rales, no breath sounds, nothing.
—Discover Magazine, 12 Nov. 2019
For my preceptor, similarly, those wet rales were as recognizable as a familiar jingle.
—Siddhartha Mukherjee, The New Yorker, 23 Mar. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Rale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rale. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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Medical Definition
: an abnormal sound heard accompanying the normal respiratory sounds on auscultation of the chest compare rattle sense 2, rhonchus
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