Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
💓 A heart flap 🦾 A replacement device
heart valve

heart valve

2 3.5
A flap in the heart that lets blood flow one way and stops it flowing back
  • noun
  • /hɑrt vælv/
  • Specialized
translation icon : válvula cardíaca
  • A less invasive minithoracotomy was used to gain access to the heart of the patient who underwent the first computer-enhanced heart valve repair.
  • a prosthetic heart valve

Examples

  • The symptoms he has indicate that he has the mechanical problem of a leaking heart valve, and if it's replaced, he could do well for quite a while.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Srinagarind Hospital is a 777-bed general hospital, and the Queen Sirikit Heart Center of the Northeast is a 200-bed specialized cardiac center in which 10 heart valve replacement surgeries are performed each month.

    Academic text (2014)

  • So a bad heart valve might give you a stroke in the brain.

  • "Daddy, they think you might have a leaky heart valve."

    Fiction book (1991)

  • That means that a relatively healthy 80-year-old whose only problem is a bad heart valve is not going to get that valve.

    Blog text (31)

  • Diagram 1 shows the chambers, major blood vessels, and heart valves.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Narrow or floppy heart valves put extra stress on the heart.

  • The card noted that George (his given name) Boehmer had a prosthetic heart valve, size 10A, implanted on October 29, 1985.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Doctors can replace a damaged heart valve to help blood flow effectively in the body.

  • A malfunctioning heart valve can lead to serious health complications if left untreated.

Synonyms

valve
vsheart valve
  • Specialized
153 4.1

A device that controls the flow of liquid or air in machines and instruments

is specific to the heart and prevents blood moving backward
cardiac valve
vsheart valve
  • Specialized
4.3

A valve in the heart that makes blood flow one way between chambers and major vessels

is the heart structure that prevents blood flowing backward

How Functional

heart valve
  • Specialized
2 3.5
to valve
  • Specialized
1 7.0

Surface Forms

heart valve singular
heart valves plural

Morphology

heart + valve

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'heart' (the organ) with 'valve' (a flow-control device): it denotes the valve that is part of the heart (including an artificial replacement). This noun–noun compositional pattern is common and cross-linguistically regular, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Heart valve comes from the image of a small 'door' inside the heart: the valve opens to let blood pass and closes to stop it going back. That's why it means a part that keeps blood moving in 'one direction'.