ultrasound

noun

ul·tra·sound | \ ˈəl-trə-ˌsau̇nd

Definition of ultrasound

1 : vibrations of the same physical nature as sound but with frequencies above the range of human hearing

2 : the diagnostic or therapeutic use of ultrasound and especially a noninvasive technique involving the formation of a two-dimensional image used for the examination and measurement of internal body structures and the detection of bodily abnormalities

— called also sonography

3 : a diagnostic examination using ultrasound

Examples of ultrasound in a Sentence

They used ultrasound to examine his heart. She had an ultrasound exam this morning. She had an ultrasound this morning. She showed me an ultrasound of her unborn baby.

Recent Examples on the Web

Doctors never detected the fourth baby, who has not been named yet, despite the various ultrasounds Van Gorder underwent. — Madeline Farber, Fox News, "Texas woman expecting triplets surprised with quadruplets," 24 May 2018 The grey and white photo was fuzzy, yet clear as day: an ultrasound. — Elise Taylor, Vogue, "The Deeper Meaning Behind Justin and Hailey Bieber’s Fake-Pregnancy Joke," 1 Apr. 2019 The trailer reveals a very pregnant Cameran driving with Shep Rose, doing pre-birth exercises with Whitney Sudler-Smith, and getting an ultrasound of her baby girl. — Sam Dangremond, Town & Country, "Southern Charm Season 5: Everything We Know," 4 Apr. 2018 There are even variations that include having the video chat at an actual clinic where an ultrasonographer or nurse first performs the ultrasound to ensure the correct gestational age of the pregnancy. — SELF, "The Complicated Reality of Buying Abortion Pills Online," 8 Apr. 2019 The groom’s mother retired as an assistant professor of radiology at Tufts University Medical School and the chief of ultrasound at Tufts Medical Center, both in Boston. — New York Times, "Alana Berman-Gnivecki, Martin Solomon," 17 June 2018 Pregnant women with any chance of Zika infection need regular scans to see if the fetus is affected — and any babies born need an ultrasound or CT scan to check for birth defects. — NBC News, "What is the Zika virus? What you need to know," 27 Apr. 2018 Doctors can run tests like an ultrasound to see what's going on and determine whether surgery is necessary (which is rarely the case, per the Mayo Clinic). — Carolyn L. Todd, SELF, "Kate Beckinsale Reveals She Went to the Hospital for a Ruptured Ovarian Cyst," 28 Jan. 2019 Up there with tiger tooth extraction and female bonobo ejaculation sampling is giving a pregnant shark an ultrasound. — Jill Kiedaisch, Popular Mechanics, "Some Unborn Sharks Swim from Uterus to Uterus Inside Their Mom," 7 Jan. 2019

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