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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

valve

/vælv/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:57
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What does valve mean?

noun

  1. A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a space, such as a pipe, manifold, or plenum.
  2. Such a device that admits fuel and air into the cylinder of an internal combustion engine, or one that allows combustion gases to exit.
  3. 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.
More meanings (7)

noun

  1. One of the leaves of a folding door or of a window sash.
  2. A vacuum tube.
  3. One of the pieces into which certain fruits naturally separate when they dehisce.
  4. A small portion of certain anthers, which opens like a trapdoor to allow the pollen to escape, such as in the barberry.
  5. One of the pieces or divisions of bivalve or multivalve shells.
  6. One of the two similar portions of the shell of a diatom.

verb

  1. To control (flow) by means of a valve.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/vælv/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

It served as a reservoir for compressed air, which a valve, worked by a spring, allowed to escape into a metal tube.
Jules VerneTwenty Thousand Leagues under the SeaProject Gutenberg ebook #164
In order to obviate the use of the valve, he had placed inside the balloon a smaller globe, filled with ordinary air.
Fulgence MarionWonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies A History of Balloons and Balloon VoyagesProject Gutenberg ebook #899
More book examples (3)
Two types of valve were fitted to each bag, one the Parseval type of valve with the pressure cone as fitted in No.
George WhaleBritish Airships, Past, Present, and FutureProject Gutenberg ebook #762
With Edison's telephone the sound-waves simply actuate an electric valve, so to speak, and permit variations in a current of any desired strength.
Frank Lewis Dyer; Thomas Commerford MartinEdison: His Life and InventionsProject Gutenberg ebook #820
It transpired afterwards that the labourer had been seen to tamper with the valve, the connecting lines of which he had partially severed.
John M. (John Mackenzie) BaconThe Dominion of the Air: The Story of Aerial NavigationProject Gutenberg ebook #861