heart-failure

Noun

heart failure (countable and uncountable, plural heart failures)

1. The chronic inability of the heart to pump a sufficient amount of blood throughout the body, leading to a pooling of blood and shortness of breath.

   Synonyms:

   congestive cardiac failure, congestive heart failure

2. The cessation of the heartbeat; cardiac arrest.
   • Such is the vocal power of water bailiffs and farmers that their ‘Ois!’ can be projected at small boys from anything up to five miles away and still induce heart-failure.1983, Bill Oddie, Gone Birding, London: Methuen, page 56