ventricle
Americannoun
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Zoology. any of various hollow organs or parts in an animal body.
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Anatomy.
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either of the two lower chambers on each side of the heart that receive blood from the atria and in turn force it into the arteries.
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one of a series of connecting cavities of the brain.
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noun
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a chamber of the heart, having thick muscular walls, that receives blood from the atrium and pumps it to the arteries
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any one of the four main cavities of the vertebrate brain, which contain cerebrospinal fluid
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any of various other small cavities in the body
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A chamber of the heart that receives blood from one or more atria and pumps it by muscular contraction into the arteries. Mammals, birds, and reptiles have two ventricles; amphibians and fish have one.
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Any of four fluid-filled cavities in the brain of vertebrate animals. The ventricles are filled with cerebrospinal fluid.
Etymology
Origin of ventricle
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin ventriculus belly, ventricle. See venter, -i-, -cle 1
Explanation
A ventricle is one of the chambers of the heart. It pumps blood to your arteries. Ventricles are very important, because they are part of your heart. The ventricles are large cavities—or chambers—and there are two of them. The ventricles receive blood from your atriums. Then that blood is pumped through your arteries to the rest of your body. Since your body needs that blood to function and survive, your ventricles have a crucial job. Any problem with your ventricles could lead to serious health problems.
Vocabulary lists containing ventricle
Mockingbird
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Human Anatomy and Physiology - Introductory
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Human Anatomy and Physiology - High School
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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.
The number likely refers to Ray J’s heart’s ejection fraction, which measures the volume of blood coming out of the heart’s left ventricle or being drawn into the right ventricle when the heart beats.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 29, 2026
Her daughters Lucie and Isobel, now 16 and 10 respectively, have each had a heart transplant after being diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition where the left ventricle becomes enlarged and weakened.
From BBC • Jul. 10, 2025
They examined the hearts of young and old mice and discovered that as the rodents aged, nerve fibers disappeared from the left ventricle, the chamber that pumps blood to most of the body.
From Science Magazine • May 22, 2024
Each child had a Jarvik 2015 device surgically implanted at the left ventricle, the heart's largest pumping chamber.
From Science Daily • May 7, 2024
He stepped on his switch and said, “There are two lacerations of the myocardium; a one-point-five-centimeter laceration in the right ventricle and a one-point-eight-centimeter laceration penetrating the left ventricle.”
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
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.
