Meanings
nounvalve (plural valves)
plural valves
- A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a space, such as a pipe, manifold, or plenum.
open the valve
3 more examples
close the valve
shut off the valve
An oil refinery has an impressively vast number and variety of valves.
- Such a device that admits fuel and air into the cylinder of an internal combustion engine, or one that allows combustion gases to exit.
Near-synonym: poppet valve
1 more example
In nearly all internal combustion engines, the valves are of the poppet type.
Synonyms: poppet valve
- anatomyOne 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
1 more example
the atrioventricular valves
- UKA vacuum tube.
- biologyOne of the pieces into which certain fruits naturally separate when they dehisce.
- biologyOne of the pieces or divisions of bivalve or multivalve shells.
- biologyOne of the two similar portions of the shell of a diatom.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSuch a device that admits fuel and air into the cylinder of an internal combustion engine, or one that allows combustion gases to exit.
Similar
Also see
Origin
- Latinvalva“double door, valve”
- Middle Englishvalve
- Englishvalve
From Middle English valve, from Latin valva (“double door, valve”). Doublet of valva.
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans ventiel
- ventieldevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Arabic صِمَام, صِمَام
- صِمَام (ṣimām)in anatomy
- صِمَام (ṣimām)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Basque balbula
- balbuladevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Bengali কপাটক
- কপাটক (kopaṭok)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Bulgarian кла́пан, кла́па
- кла́пан (klápan)device in an internal combustion engine
- кла́па (klápa)in anatomy
- кла́пан (klápan)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- венти́л (ventíl)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Catalan vàlvula, vàlvula
- vàlvuladevice in an internal combustion engine
- vàlvulain anatomy
- vàlvuladevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Chinese Cantonese 瓣膜, 閥門 /阀门
- 瓣膜in anatomy
- 閥門 /阀门 (fat⁶ mun⁴)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Chinese Mandarin 瓣膜, 閥門 /阀门
- 瓣膜 (bànmó)in anatomy
- 閥門 /阀门 (fámén)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Czech ventil, chlopeň
- ventildevice in an internal combustion engine
- chlopeňin anatomy
- ventildevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Danish ventil
- ventildevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Dutch klep, ventiel
- klepdevice in an internal combustion engine
- ventieldevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Esperanto valvo, valvo
- valvoin anatomy
- valvodevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Estonian klapp, ventiil
- klappdevice in an internal combustion engine
- ventiildevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- klappdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Finnish venttiili, läppä
- venttiilidevice in an internal combustion engine
- läppäin anatomy
- venttiilidevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
French soupape, valvule
- soupapedevice in an internal combustion engine
- valvulein anatomy
- clapetdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- soupapedevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
German Ventil, Klappe
- Ventildevice in an internal combustion engine
- Klappein anatomy
- Ventildevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- Armaturdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- Hahndevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- Wasserhahndevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- Schieberdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Greek βαλβίδα
- βαλβίδα (valvída)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Hebrew שַׁסְתּוֹם
- שַׁסְתּוֹםdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Hindi वाल्व
- वाल्व (vālv)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Hungarian billentyű, valvula
- billentyűin anatomy
- valvulain anatomy
- szelepdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Icelandic ventill
- ventilldevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Indonesian katup, klep
- katupdevice in an internal combustion engine
- klepdevice in an internal combustion engine
- katupin anatomy
- katupdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- injapdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- klepdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- pentildevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Irish comhla
- comhlain anatomy
Italian valvola
- valvoladevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Japanese 弁膜, バルブ
- 弁膜 (benmaku)in anatomy
- バルブ (barubu)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Korean 판막, 밸브
- 판막 (panmak)in anatomy
- 밸브 (baelbeu)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Latvian vārsts, ventilis
- vārstsdevice in an internal combustion engine
- ventilisdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- krānsdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Lithuanian sklendė
- sklendėdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Malay injap, injap
- injapdevice in an internal combustion engine
- injapin anatomy
- injapdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Norwegian Bokmål ventil, klaff
- ventildevice in an internal combustion engine
- klaffin anatomy
- ventildevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Polish zawór, zastawka
- zawórdevice in an internal combustion engine
- zastawkain anatomy
- zawórdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- wentyldevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Portuguese válvula, válvula
- válvuladevice in an internal combustion engine
- válvulain anatomy
- valvain anatomy
- válvuladevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Romanian valvă, ventil
- valvăin anatomy
- ventildevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Russian кла́пан, кла́пан
- кла́пан (klápan)device in an internal combustion engine
- кла́пан (klápan)in anatomy
- ве́нтиль (véntilʹ)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- кла́пан (klápan)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- задви́жка (zadvížka)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- засло́нка (zaslónka)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Scottish Gaelic cìochag, pìob-chòmhla
- cìochagdevice in an internal combustion engine
- pìob-chòmhladevice in an internal combustion engine
- cìochagin anatomy
- pìob-chòmhlain anatomy
- duilleag-dhorasin anatomy
- cìochagdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- pìob-chòmhladevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Slovak chlopňa, ventil
- chlopňadevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- ventildevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Spanish válvula, válvula
- válvulain anatomy
- válvuladevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- llavedevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- grifóndevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Swahili valvu
- valvudevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Swedish ventil, klaff
- ventildevice in an internal combustion engine
- klaffin anatomy
- ventildevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Tagalog tudlang, palaypay-butas
- tudlangdevice in an internal combustion engine
- palaypay-butasin anatomy
- balbuladevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- tudlangdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Tamil அடைப்பிதழ்
- அடைப்பிதழ் (aṭaippitaḻ)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Thai วาล์ว, ลิ้น
- วาล์ว (waao)device in an internal combustion engine
- ลิ้น (lín)device in an internal combustion engine
- ลิ้น (lín)in anatomy
- วาล์ว (waao)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- ลิ้น (lín)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Turkish supap, kapak
- supapdevice in an internal combustion engine
- kapakin anatomy
- sibopdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- supapdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- valfdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- vanadevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Ukrainian кла́пан, кла́пан
- кла́пан (klápan)in anatomy
- кла́пан (klápan)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
- ве́нтиль (véntylʹ)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Urdu والْو
- والْو (vālv)device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Vietnamese van
- vandevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Welsh falf, falf
- falfdevice in an internal combustion engine
- falfin anatomy
- falfdevice that controls the flow of a gas or fluid
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with valve
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
valve. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valve
MLA
“valve.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valve. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “valve,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valve.
Source: valve on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.