heart attack

noun

: an acute episode of coronary heart disease marked by the death or damage of heart muscle due to insufficient blood supply to the heart usually as a result of a coronary artery becoming blocked by a blood clot formed in response to a ruptured or torn fatty arterial deposit

Note: Symptoms of heart attack include discomfort or pain in the chest, shoulder, arm, back, neck, or jaw, shortness of breath, dizziness or lightheadedness, heartburn, nausea, excessive sweating, and extreme fatigue.

called also myocardial infarction

Examples of heart attack in a Sentence

Her chest pains turned out to be caused by a minor heart attack.

He died of a massive heart attack.

Recent Examples on the Web

Keach had previously suffered a heart attack onstage in Chicago in June 2017. — Mark Kennedy The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 12 Nov. 2026

In 2017, Keach suffered a heart attack while performing in a one-man production about Ernest Hemingway at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, an ordeal that forced the cancellation of the show's run. — Jasmine Baehr, FOXNews.com, 11 Nov. 2026

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, short-staffing forced the hospital to take many of its beds offline and stopped it from operating on severe heart attacks. — Eric Umansky, ProPublica, 11 Nov. 2026

Left untreated, sleep apnea is associated with difficult-to-control high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation and other abnormal heart rhythms, atherosclerosis, heart attack, heart failure, pulmonary hypertension and stroke, according to NHLBI. — Emily Cegielski, Flow Space, 10 Nov. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1836, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for heart attack

• almanac
• camelback
• cardiac
• carryback
• cluniac
• diamondback
• lumberjack
• maniac
• paperback
• piggyback
• quarterback
• saddleback

Kids Definition

heart attack

noun

: a sudden severe occurrence of damage to heart muscle caused by too little blood going to the heart usually as a result of the blocking of a coronary artery (as by a bit of fatty matter)

Medical Definition

heart attack

noun

: an acute episode of coronary heart disease marked by the death or damage of heart muscle due to insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle usually as a result of a coronary artery becoming blocked by a blood clot formed in response to a ruptured or torn fatty arterial deposit

Note: Symptoms of heart attack include discomfort or pain in the chest, shoulder, arm, back, neck, or jaw, shortness of breath, dizziness or light-headedness, heartburn, nausea, excessive sweating, and extreme fatigue.

When a patient is in the throes of a heart attack, the physician's goal is restoring adequate blood flow to the starving heart muscle as swiftly as possible.

—Harvard Medical School Health Letter

It has long been known that aspirin helps prevent blood clots … and many studies have shown that the drug can reduce the incidence of heart attacks and strokes.

—Peter Aldhous, Science

called also acute myocardial infarction, myocardial infarction

compare angina pectoris, coronary insufficiency, heart failure sense 1