ultrasound

Meanings

1. 1noununcountabletechnical

   Sound waves that are too high for people to hear, used in medicine and industry.

   Grammar: Used as a mass noun: ultrasound travels through tissue.

   Patterns

   • use ultrasound to do something
   • ultrasound waves

   Bats find their way in the dark by producing ultrasound.

   Engineers use ultrasound to check metal parts for hidden cracks.

   The device sends out ultrasound and measures what bounces back.

2. 2nouncountablemedical

   A medical test or scan that uses these sound waves to show inside the body.

   Grammar: Countable when it means one test or scan: she had an ultrasound.

   Patterns

   • have an ultrasound
   • an ultrasound scan
   • an ultrasound on something

   She had an ultrasound to check the baby's growth.

   The doctor sent him for an ultrasound of his kidneys.

   The ultrasound showed no damage to the heart.

Word forms

Common combinations

have an ultrasound

I have to have an ultrasound next Tuesday.

ultrasound scan

The ultrasound scan lasted about twenty minutes.

ultrasound waves

Ultrasound waves pass easily through water.

an ultrasound machine

The clinic bought a new ultrasound machine.

a prenatal ultrasound

Most women are offered a prenatal ultrasound.

Synonyms and how they differ

sonogram

Mainly American; it usually means the picture or record produced by an ultrasound, not the sound itself.

scan

A general word for any imaging test; use 'ultrasound' when you mean the sound-wave type specifically.

Word family

ultrasonic adjective

Relating to sound waves above the range of human hearing.

ultrasonography noun

The medical technique of producing images with ultrasound.

Commonly confused: ultrasound or infrasound?

Practice

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