| safe | 1. Free from harm, injury, or risk; untouched or unthreatened by danger or injury; unharmed; unhurt; secure; whole; as, safe from disease; safe from storms; safe from foes. "And ye dwelled safe." "They escaped all safe all safe to land." (Acts xxvii. 44) "Established in a safe, unenvied throne." (Milton) 2. Conferring safety; securing from harm; not exposing to danger; confining securely; to be relied upon; not dangerous; as, a safe harbor; a safe bridge, etc. "The man of safe discretion." "The King of heaven hath doomed This place our dungeon, not our safe retreat." (Milton) 3. Incapable of doing harm; no longer dangerous; in secure care or custody; as, the prisoner is safe. "But Banquo's safe? Ay, my good lord, safe in a ditch he bides." (Shak) Safe hit, a hit which enables the batter to get to first base even if no error is made by the other side. 4. A place for keeping things in safety. Specifically: A strong and fireproof receptacle (as a movable chest of steel, etc, or a closet or vault of brickwork) for money, valuable papers, or the like. A ventilated or refrigerated chest or closet for securing provisions from noxious animals or insects. Synonym: Secure, unendangered, sure. Origin: OE. Sauf, F. Sauf, fr. L. Salvus, akin to salus health, welfare, safety. Cf. Salute, Salvation, Sage a plant, Save, Salvo an exception. (26 Mar 1998) |
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| safe sex | Sexual practices that limit the risk of transmitting or acquiring an infectious disease via exchanges of semen, blood, and other bodily fluids, e.g., use of a condom, mutual masturbation, and avoidance of anal intercourse. (05 Mar 2000) |
| abnormal cleavage of cardiac valve | Congenital malformation of a valve leaflet with a defect extending from the free margin. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Amussat's valve | A series of crescentic folds of mucous membrane in the upper part of the cystic duct, arranged in a somewhat spiral manner. Synonym: plica spiralis ductus cystici, Amussat's valve, Heister's valve, spiral valve of cystic duct, valvula spiralis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anterior cusp of atrioventricular valve | The anterior leaflet or valvule of either the tricuspid or mitral valves. Synonym: cuspis anterior valvae atrioventricularis dextrae/sinistrae. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anterior urethral valve | A crescentic horizontal fold in the proximal spongy urethra. (05 Mar 2000) |
| aortic valve | The heart valve that divides the left ventricle and the aorta. The aortic valve opens during left ventricular contraction and then closes to prohibit the backwash of oxygenated blood from the aorta into the ventricle. The aortic valve has 3 valve cusps. (27 Sep 1997) |
| aortic valve insufficiency | Backflow of blood from the aorta into the left ventricle, owing to imperfect functioning of the aortic semilunar valve. (12 Dec 1998) |
| aortic valve prolapse | The downward displacement of the cuspal material (misalignment of the cusps) below a line joining points of attachment of the aortic valve leaflets. The prolapsed cusp may occlude the ventricular septal defect during ventricular diastole. (12 Dec 1998) |
| aortic valve stenosis | Narrowing of the orifice of the aortic valve or of the supravalular or subvalvular regions. (12 Dec 1998) |
| artificial heart valve | <cardiology> A synthetic or porcine (pigskin) valve surgically placed into the heart to replace a defective or malfunctioning valve. The aortic and mitral valves are the most frequently replaced with artificial valves. (27 Sep 1997) |
| ball valve | Any of a variety of prosthetic cardiac valve's comprised of a ball within a retaining cage affixed to the orifice; when appropriately sized, used in aortic, mitral, or tricuspid position. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ball valve action | The intermittent blockage of a tube or outlet of a cavity by some object or material that permits passage in one direction but not in the other. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ball-valve thrombus | Ball thrombus intermittently occluding the mitral or tricuspid orifice. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Bauhin's valve | The bilabial prominence of the terminal ileum into the large intestine at the caecocolic junction as seen in cadavers; in the living individual it appears as a truncated cone with a star-shaped orifice. Synonym: valva ileocaecalis, Bauhin's valve, ileocaecal eminence, ileocolic valve, Tulp's valve, Tulpius' valve, valve of Varolius. (05 Mar 2000) |