rale Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders)
rattle; rattling.
- the death rattle

F. râle. Cf. Rail the bird.

(Med.) An adventitious sound, usually of morbid origin, accompanying the normal respiratory sounds. See Rhonchus. ✍ Various kinds are distinguished by pathologists; differing in intensity, as loud and small; in quality, as moist, dry, clicking, and sonorous; and in origin, as tracheal, pulmonary, and pleural.