Hamman's sign

proper noun

A crunching, rasping sound, synchronous with the heartbeat, heard over the precordium in spontaneous mediastinal emphysema produced by the heart beating against air-filled tissues.

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. medicineA crunching, rasping sound, synchronous with the heartbeat, heard over the precordium in spontaneous mediastinal emphysema produced by the heart beating against air-filled tissues.

Origin

Named after Johns Hopkins clinician Louis Hamman.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Hamman's sign. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hamman's%20sign

MLA

“Hamman's sign.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hamman's%20sign. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Hamman's sign,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hamman's%20sign.

Source: Hamman's sign on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.