diastole

American  

[dahy-as-tl-ee, -tl-ee] / daɪˈæs tlˌi, -tl i /

noun

1. Physiology. the normal rhythmical dilatation of the heart during which the chambers are filling with blood.

2. Prosody. the lengthening of a syllable regularly short, especially before a pause or at the ictus.

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diastole British  

/ ˌdaɪəˈstɒlɪk, daɪˈæstəlɪ /

noun

1. the dilatation of the chambers of the heart that follows each contraction, during which they refill with blood Compare systole

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diastole Scientific  

/ dī-ăs′tə-lē /

1. The period during the normal beating of the heart in which the chambers of the heart dilate and fill with blood. Diastole of the atria occurs before diastole of the ventricles.

2. Compare systole

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Other Word Forms

• diastolic adjective

Etymology

Origin of diastole

1570–80; < Late Latin diastolē < Greek diastolḗ a putting asunder, dilation, lengthening; compare diastéllein to set apart, equivalent to dia- dia- + stéllein to put, place

Example Sentences

He has a feeling for the systole and diastole, the contraction and release, of a body’s mechanisms.

From New York Times

And those who prefer not to follow fads at all need only wait a while: much of today’s playful punctuation will soon become unfashionable, dead as the diastole and the diple.

From Economist

By prolonging the cardiac diastole and contracting the arterioles it allows the left ventricle to fill, restores the arterial tension, diminishes correspondingly the intravenous pressure, and promotes absorption.

From Project Gutenberg

It arrests the heart in diastole, the organ afterwards contracts slowly—possibly in rapid rigor mortis.

From Project Gutenberg

He fails to create an ideal world in which both tragedy and comedy are necessary to the spiritual order, as are the systole and diastole of the heart to an organised being.

From Project Gutenberg