valve
noun
- device that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid or a gas
- anatomical term applied to the shell of molluscs
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈvælv/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English valve, from Latin valva (“double door, valve”). Doublet of valva.
- A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a space, such as a pipe, manifold, or plenum.
“open the valve”
“close the valve”
- A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a space, such as a pipe, manifold, or plenum.
“Near-synonym: poppet valve”
“In nearly all internal combustion engines, the valves are of the poppet type.”
- One or more membranous partitions, flaps, or folds, which permit the passage of the contents of a vessel or cavity in one direction, but stop or control the flow in the opposite direction.
“the ileocecal valve”
“the atrioventricular valves”
- One of the leaves of a folding door or of a window sash.
- A vacuum tube.
- One of the pieces into which certain fruits naturally separate when they dehisce.
- A small portion of certain anthers, which opens like a trapdoor to allow the pollen to escape, such as in the barberry.
- One of the pieces or divisions of bivalve or multivalve shells.
- One of the two similar portions of the shell of a diatom.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English valve, from Latin valva (“double door, valve”). Doublet of valva.
- To control (flow) by means of a valve.