WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
co•arc•ta•tion
(kō′ärk tā′shən),USA pronunciation n.
- Pathology
- a narrowing of the lumen of a blood vessel.
- Pathologya congenital anomaly of the heart in which there is a narrowing of the aorta, resulting in abnormal blood flow.
- Anatomy[Entomol.]the condition of having the body enclosed in a hardened shell or puparium.
- Latin coar(c)tātiōn-, stem of coar(c)tātiō; see coarctate, -ion
- late Middle English coartacioun pressure, constriction 1400–50