Vălve, n.
n. [Lat. valva, the leaf, fold, or valve of a door, It. valva, Fr. valve.]
Sense 1. A door; especially, a folding door, or one of the leaves of such a door.
Swift through the valves the visionary fair Repassed. Pope.
Sense 2. A lid or cover to an aperture, so formed as to open a communication in one direction, and close it in the other by lifting, turning, or sliding; thus, the valve of a common pump opens upward to admit the water, and closes downward to prevent its return.
Valves may be generally classed as revolving, sliding, lifting, and hinged, of which the cock, the slide-valve, the puppet-valve, and the clack-valve are examples respectively. See SLIDE-VALVE.
Sense 3. (Anat.) A membranous partition or fold within the cavity of a vessel, which opens to allow the passage of a fluid in one direction, and shuts to prevent its regurgitation.
Sense 4. (Bot.) (a.) One of the pieces into which a pericarp naturally separates when it bursts. (b.) A similar part in other organs, as the anther.
Sense 5. (Conch.) One of the pieces or divisions in bivalve and multivalve shells.