ULTRASOUND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ultrasound mean? 

• ULTRASOUND (noun)
  The noun ULTRASOUND has 2 senses:

1. very high frequency sound; used in ultrasonography

2. using the reflections of high-frequency sound waves to construct an image of a body organ (a sonogram); commonly used to observe fetal growth or study bodily organs

  Familiarity information: ULTRASOUND used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ULTRASOUND (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Very high frequency sound; used in ultrasonography

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("ultrasound" is a kind of...):

sound (mechanical vibrations transmitted by an elastic medium)

Derivation:

ultrasonic (having frequencies above those of audible sound)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Using the reflections of high-frequency sound waves to construct an image of a body organ (a sonogram); commonly used to observe fetal growth or study bodily organs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

echography; sonography; ultrasonography; ultrasound

Hypernyms ("ultrasound" is a kind of...):

prenatal diagnosis (any of the diagnostic procedures used to determine whether a fetus has a genetic abnormality)

imaging; tomography ((medicine) obtaining pictures of the interior of the body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ultrasound"):

A-scan ultrasonography (the use of ultrasonography to measure the length of the eyeball)

B-scan ultrasonography (the use of ultrasonography to view structure in the back of the eye)

 Context examples 

Also called ERUS, transrectal ultrasound, and TRUS.

(Endorectal ultrasound, NCI Dictionary)

This leads to an improvement of ultrasound signaling.

(Perflexane, NCI Thesaurus)

A type of kidney tumor that is usually found before birth by ultrasound or within the first 3 months of life.

(Congenital mesoblastic nephroma, NCI Dictionary)

Use of ultrasound for imaging or diagnostic purposes.

(Diagnostic Ultrasound, NCI Thesaurus)

Also called high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy.

(HIFU, NCI Dictionary)

Also called endorectal ultrasound, transrectal ultrasound, and TRUS.

(ERUS, NCI Dictionary)

Also called endoscopic ultrasound and EUS.

(Endosonography, NCI Dictionary)

The frequencies and bandwidths of infrared light are orders of magnitude higher than medical ultrasound signals, resulting in greatly increased image resolution, 8-25 times greater than any existing modality.

(Optical coherence tomography, NCI Thesaurus)

An ultrasound administered by using a tube containing flexible fibre optic wires that allows for the analysis of tissues inside the body.

(Endoscopic ultrasound, NCI Thesaurus)

Also called endoscopic ultrasound and endosonography.

(EUS, NCI Dictionary)