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Glite Dictionary
stertor

stertor

9.9
A loud rough sound when someone breathes during sleep or illness
  • noun
  • /ˈstɜrtər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : estertor
  • After a long day, he fell asleep and began to make a deep stertor that echoed through the quiet room.

Examples

  • The doctor noted that the stertor she heard indicated that the patient was struggling to breathe properly.

  • The most common perceived characteristic of breath sounds among all three groups was biphasic stridor, while the final characteristic observed by the otolaryngology attending physicians was stertor.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The patient's stertor was a sign of a serious respiratory condition that required immediate attention.

Synonyms

snoring
vsstertor
74 1.0

A noisy sound made when someone breathes during sleep

refers to harsh or gasping breathing sounds that also occur in medical contexts
snore
vsstertor
20 1.0

A noise made when someone breathes during sleep, often loud

refers to harsh or gasping breathing sounds that also occur in medical contexts

Antonyms

silence
660 2.0

A period with no sound or speech

eupnea
  • Specialized
9.9

Breathing that is normal and easy when someone is resting

How Loud

stertor
  • Specialized
9.9
snore
20 1.0
wheeze
20 6.3
to sigh
80 1.9

Surface Forms

stertor singular
stertors plural

Etymology

Stertor comes from the old Latin word stertor (from stertare) which meant 'to snore' or 'breathe loudly', so you can think of it like the common word 'snore'. So stertor today means a harsh, snoring or gasping sound in breathing.