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   valve

   /valv/

   noun

   • 1. a device for controlling the passage of fluid or air through a pipe, duct, etc., especially an automatic device allowing movement in one direction only: "a valve shuts off the flow from the boiler when the water is hot enough"
   • ▪ short for thermionic valve British
   • ▪ a cylindrical mechanism in a brass instrument which, when depressed or turned, admits air into different sections of tubing and so extends the range of available notes.
   • ▪ a membranous fold in a hollow organ or tubular structure, such as a blood vessel or the digestive tract, which maintains the flow of the contents in one direction by closing in response to any pressure from reverse flow: "the aortic valve"
   • 2. each of the halves of the hinged shell of a bivalve mollusc or brachiopod, or of the parts of the compound shell of a barnacle.
   • ▪ each of the halves or sections into which a dry fruit (especially a pod or capsule) dehisces.

   Word Origin late Middle English (denoting a leaf of a folding or double door): from Latin valva.

   Derivatives

   • 1. valved adjective
   • 2. valveless adjective
   • 3. valvule noun

   Scrabble Points: 11

   • V

     4

   • A

     1

   • L

     1

   • V

     4

   • E

     1

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