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  • Purple Heart
    Purple Heart
    noun
    a medal awarded for wounds received in action against an enemy or as a direct result of an act of the enemy.
  • purple heart
    purple heart
    noun
    any of several tropical American leguminous trees of the genus Peltogyne
Synonyms

Purple Heart

American  

noun

U.S. Armed Forces.
  1. a medal awarded for wounds received in action against an enemy or as a direct result of an act of the enemy.


purple heart 1 British  

noun

  1. any of several tropical American leguminous trees of the genus Peltogyne

  2. the decorative purple heartwood of any of these trees

  3. informal a heart-shaped purple tablet consisting mainly of amphetamine

"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

Purple Heart 2 British  

noun

  1. a decoration awarded to members of the US Armed Forces for a wound incurred in action

"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

Etymology

Origin of Purple Heart

An Americanism dating back to 1930–35


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Army combat veteran and a Purple Heart recipient.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

He joined the Marines and led a rifle platoon of the Third Marine Division in Vietnam, where he received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 21, 2026

A company called Purple Heart reportedly acted an an intermediary in the transfer.

From Barron's ● Nov. 24, 2025

Roland L. Bragg, a World War II hero who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.

From Slate ● Feb. 12, 2025

A new uniform was a CO’s Purple Heart.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

He was awarded the purple heart and is buried in the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer in Normandy.

From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2024

Spice, born Isis Naija Gaston, quote tweeted in response, saying, “sweetest person ever thank u sm i love yuuuu,” punctuated with a heart-eye emoji, purple heart emoji and heart-hands emoji.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2023

Four were red and the fifth had a small purple heart bordered by silver varnish.

From Reuters ● Feb. 22, 2023

But I believe Rivera will give Heinicke — purple heart and all — just one more chance in Denver to get it right.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 25, 2021

Its surface is lined with hot-pink construction paper, covered in blue and purple heart stickers.

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day

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