systole
Americannoun
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Physiology. the normal rhythmical contraction of the heart, during which the blood in the chambers is forced onward.
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Classical Prosody. the shortening of a syllable regularly long.
noun
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The period during the normal beating of the heart in which the chambers of the heart, especially the ventricles, contract to force blood into the aorta and pulmonary artery.
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Compare diastole
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of systole
1570–80; < Greek systolḗ a drawing up, contraction, equivalent to sy- sy- + stolḗ pressure, originally, garment, equipment, equivalent to stol- (noun derivative of stéllein to send, place) + -ē feminine noun suffix; cf. diastole, systaltic
Explanation
During a heartbeat, the heart contracts and pumps blood into the aorta, a phase known as systole. In Greek, systole means "a drawing together or contraction." The rhythmic, repeated contraction of the heart muscle during systole is what allows it to push blood throughout the body. It's also part of what gets measured when you have your blood pressure taken: systolic blood pressure measures the force of the blood as it's being pumped into your arteries.
Vocabulary lists containing systole
Vocabulary from Readings 4, Unit 1
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Vocabulary from Readings 4, Unit 1
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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.
During systole, the volunteers perceived time duration to be shorter than it actually was.
From Scientific American • Jun. 22, 2023
The heart contracts to pump blood through the body during diastole and is filled with blood during systole.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
The period of contraction that the heart undergoes while it pumps blood into circulation is called systole.
From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013
Atrial systole lasts approximately 100 ms and ends prior to ventricular systole, as the atrial muscle returns to diastole.
From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013
In all the storm and stress, a rhythmic motion, a systole and diastole, a surging to and fro, as of vast masses of beings in the last extremity of peril, is apparent.
From Beethoven by Fischer, George Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
