valvular, a.
(ˈvælvjʊlə(r))
[f. prec.]
1. Having the form or function of a valve; composed or consisting of valves. Chiefly Anat. and Bot.
| (a) 1797 M. Baillie Morb. Anat. (1807) 32 The valvular apparatus between the auricles and ventricles is also occasionally thickened. Ibid. 104 The œsophagus necessarily acquired a valvular communication with it. 1843 J. J. Wilkinson tr. Swedenborg's Anim. Kingd. I. ii. 68 Among these glands..we observe a great number of transparent vessels, with valvular divisions. 1878 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. I. 25 It may appear as a direct or as a valvular opening, depressed, or raised. |
| (b) 1829 Lindley Synops. Brit. Bot. 54 Sepals 4–5, with a valvular æstivation. 1830 ― Nat. Syst. Bot. 141 The calyx is valvular, and the petals only 2. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 298 Ovary superior. Capsule valvular. |
| (c) 1876 J. J. Wilkinson Hum. Sci. & Div. Rev. 67 The gates of science are valvular, and open from above downwards, but cannot be opened from below upwards. |
2. Furnished with a valve or valves.
| 1808 Barclay Muscular Motions 233 Valvular veins, when divided across, require a ligature only at the orifice which points towards the heart. |
3. Of or pertaining to a valve or valves.
| 1866 A. Flint Princ. Med. iii. 308 The structural lesions relate, in the first place, to the valves and orifices of the heart. These are known commonly as valvular lesions. 1876 J. S. Bristowe Th. & Pract. Med. 492 Valvular defects may be of two kinds; they may be obstructive,..or such as admit of regurgitation. 1881 Med. Temp. Jrnl. XLVIII. 209 Valvular disease of the heart. |