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Definition of: diastole
(dī·as′tə·lē) noun
1. Physiol. The regular expansion or dilatation of the heart and of the arteries: opposed to systole.
2. Zool. A corresponding motion in protozoans and in parts of other animal organisms.
3. In Greek and Latin prosody, the lengthening of a syllable naturally short. Compare SYSTOLE. [<LL <Gk. diastolē a separation, lengthening <dia- apart + stellein send, put]
—di·as·tol·ic (dī′ə·stol′ik) adjective
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