heart attack

American  

noun

Pathology.

• heart attacks
  plural

1. damage to an area of heart muscle that is deprived of oxygen, usually due to blockage of a diseased coronary artery, typically accompanied by chest pain radiating down one or both arms, the severity of the attack varying with the extent and location of the damage; myocardial infarction.

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heart attack British  

noun

1. any sudden severe instance of abnormal heart functioning, esp coronary thrombosis

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heart attack Scientific  

1. Necrosis of a region of the heart muscle caused by an interruption in the supply of blood to the heart, usually as a result of occlusion of a coronary artery resulting from coronary artery disease. Symptoms typically include sudden, crushing chest pain, nausea, and sweating. Characteristic changes in the electrocardiogram are used to diagnose heart attacks.

2. Also called myocardial infarction

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heart attack Cultural  

1. An episode of heart failure or the stopping of normal heart function; a coronary thrombosis. Symptoms of a heart attack include pain and pressure in the chest, which often spread to the shoulder, arm, and neck. Today, physicians tend to define heart attack in terms of muscle damage to the heart caused by oxygen deprivation.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• heart attacks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of heart attack

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

heart attack

Stanford University researchers trained an AI model, which from a single night’s sleep, can flag a person’s risk for roughly 130 diseases, including heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and dementia, years before diagnosis.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

She was told by a doctor she was having a major heart attack.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

"But shortly before the scheduled execution, he suffered a heart attack and was transferred to hospital," said Mai Sato, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

Atherosclerosis is the primary underlying cause of cardiovascular disease, which can eventually appear as a heart attack, stroke or sudden death.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026

I think I might be having a heart attack.

From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender

Related Words

• cardiovascular disease
• congestive heart failure