breath sounds of a harsh or blowing quality, heard on auscultation of the chest, made by air moving in the large bronchi and barely, if at all, modified by the intervening lung; duration of the expiratory sound is as long as or longer than that of the inspiratory sound, and its pitch as high as or higher than that of the inspiratory sound; may be heard over a consolidated lung, above a pleural effusion due to an underlying compressed lung, and rarely over a pulmonary cavity; whispered pectoriloquy is another manifestation that usually can be elicited when bronchial breathing is present. SYN: bronchial breath sounds.
