heart failure

See synonyms for heart failure on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a condition in which the heart fatally ceases to function.

  2. Also called congestive heart failure. a condition in which the heart fails to pump adequate amounts of blood to the tissues, resulting in accumulation of blood returning to the heart from the veins, and often accompanied by distension of the ventricles, edema, and shortness of breath.

Origin of heart failure

1
First recorded in 1890–95

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use heart failure in a sentence

  • Auld Jock had died of heart failure, from pneumonia and worn-out old age.

    Greyfriars Bobby | Eleanor Atkinson
  • Then the Yale yell pealed forth, and Little Eva came near dying in reality from heart failure.

    Frank Merriwell's Races | Burt L. Standish
  • The protracted excitement has caused several deaths from heart failure, and I heard of two cases of acute mania.

    A Woman's Part in a Revolution | Natalie Harris Hammond
  • As Burt said afterward, "I came so near havin' heart failure for a minute that I could see the funeral procession."

    The Blind Lion of the Congo | Elliott Whitney
  • I nearly died of heart failure because I couldnt go in with em.

    The Fall of a Nation | Thomas Dixon

British Dictionary definitions for heart failure

heart failure

noun
  1. a condition in which the heart is unable to pump an adequate amount of blood to the tissues, usually resulting in breathlessness, swollen ankles, etc

  2. sudden and permanent cessation of the heartbeat, resulting in death

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for heart failure

heart failure

  1. An acute or chronic inability of the heart to maintain adequate blood circulation to the peripheral tissues and the lungs, usually characterized by fatigue, edema, and shortness of breath. Heart failure has many causes, including coronary artery disease, hypertension, and cardiomyopathy. Also called congestive heart failure

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.