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valve

UK/ˈvælv/US/ˈvælv/
nounB2Common in everyday speech and writing · #3,819 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: valves

A valve is the fitting that lets air in and keeps it there. A bike valve, tyre valve, open the valve.

It works one way, which is the whole idea — a valve is a door that only opens in one direction, whether in a tyre, a heart or a pipe. Bicycle valves come in two incompatible types, Presta and Schrader, which is a lasting nuisance. Note that the Latin valva means a folding door.

Paul Goyette · CC BY-SA 2.0

Definitions of valve

  1. 1nounvalveA fitting that lets air or fluid through one way.B2

    “The heart has valves that stop blood from flowing backwards.”

valve is a fitting.

Where it comes from

Latin valva means a folding door. The mechanical sense came from the idea of a door opening one way.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *welH-

  2. Latin

    valva — double door, valve

  3. Middle English

    valve

  4. English, today

    valve

From Middle English valve, from Latin valva (“double door, valve”). a doublet of valva.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Cycling

Practise this word

valve in the wild

  • Nearly all trombones use a telescoping slide mechanism to alter the pitch instead of the valves used by other brass instruments.

    Trombone

  • In an open valve, fluid flows in a direction from higher pressure to lower pressure.

    Valve

  • A heart valve (cardiac valve) is a biological one-way valve that allows blood to flow in one direction through the chambers of the heart.

    Heart valve

  • Together, the valves determine the direction of blood flow through the heart.

    Heart valve

  • The aortic valve is the last structure in the heart the blood travels through before stopping the flow through the systemic circulation.

    Aortic valve

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.