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(), n.[L. valva the leaf, fold, or valve of a door: cf. F. valve.] 1. A door; especially, one of a pair of folding doors, or one of the leaves of such a door. Swift through the valves the visionary fair Repassed. Pope. Heavily closed, . . . the valves of the barn doors. Longfellow. 2. A lid, plug, or cover, applied to an aperture so that by its movement, as by swinging, lifting and falling, sliding, turning, or the like, it will open or close the aperture to permit or prevent passage, as of a fluid. A valve may act automatically so as to be opened by the effort of a fluid to pass in one direction, and closed by the effort to pass in the other direction, as a clack valve; or it may be opened or closed by hand or by mechanism, as a screw valve, or a slide valve. 3. (Anat.) 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 retard the flow in the opposite direction; as, the ileocolic, mitral, and semil スポンサード リンク
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