congestive heart failure

noun

: heart failure in which the heart is unable to maintain an adequate circulation of blood in the bodily tissues or to pump out the venous blood returned to it by the veins

Examples of congestive heart failure in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Flores also had a history of congestive heart failure, the report said. —Denise Petski, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2025

Randy suffered a life-altering stroke in 2013 and, prior to that, the musician was hospitalized for congestive heart failure tied to viral cardiomyopathy. —Janelle Ash , Larry Fink, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2025

The areas are kidney failure, knee replacement, hip fracture, heart attack, congestive heart failure, hip replacement, pneumonia and abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. —Melinda Moore, Chicago Tribune, 2 Sep. 2025

My dad lived with congestive heart failure for more than two decades and absolutely loved his pacemaker. —IEEE Spectrum, 28 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1930, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

congestive heart failure

noun

con·​ges·​tive heart failure

kən-ˈjes-tiv-

: heart failure in which the heart is unable to keep enough blood circulating in the tissues or is unable to pump out the blood returned to it by the veins

Medical Definition

congestive heart failure

noun

: heart failure in which the heart is unable to maintain adequate circulation of blood in the tissues of the body or to pump out the venous blood returned to it by the venous circulation compare coronary failure