1. Crackling; the quality of a fine bubbling sound (rale) that resembles noise heard on rubbing hair between the fingers. 2. The sensation felt on placing the hand over the seat of a fracture when the broken ends of the bone are moved, or over tissue, in which gas gangrene is present. SYN: bony crepitus. 3. Noise or vibration produced by rubbing bone or irregular degenerated cartilage surfaces together as in arthritis and other conditions. SYN: crepitus (1). [see crepitus]
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crep·i·ta·tion .krep-ə-'tā-shən n a grating or crackling sound or sensation (as that produced by the fractured ends of a bone moving against each other or as that in tissues affected with gas gangrene) <\crepitation in the arthritic knee>
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n.
a soft fine crackling sound heard in the lungs through the stethoscope. Crepitations are made either by air passages and alveoli (air sacs) opening up during inspiration or by air bubbling through fluid. They are not normally heard in healthy lungs.
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crep·i·ta·tion (krep″ĭ-taґshən) 1. a sound like that made by throwing salt into a fire. See crepitant rale, under rale. 2. the noise made by rubbing together the ends of a fractured bone.Medical dictionary. 2011.