auscultation

noun

Etymology: From Latin auscultātio (“act of listening”).

1. Diagnosis of disorders by listening to the sounds of the internal organs, usually using a stethoscope.

   “They thus appeared to be taking her, together, for the moment, and almost for sociability, as prepared to proceed to gratuitous extremities; the upshot of which was in turn, that after much interrogation, auscultation, exploration, much noting of his own sequences and neglecting of hers, had duly kept up the vagueness, they might have struck themselves, or may at least strike us, as coming back from an undeterred but useless voyage to the north pole.”

   “The movement was also responsible for the recognition of several new signs of death such as fixed, dilated pupils and auscultation of the heart.”