Purple Heart


noun U.S. Armed Forces.

a medal awarded for wounds received in action against an enemy or as a direct result of an act of the enemy.

Origin of Purple Heart

An Americanism dating back to 1930–35

Example sentences from the Web for purple heart

  • In Guiana the canoe is made of the bark of the purple-heart tree, stripped off and tied together at the ends.

    The Evolution of Culture |Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers

British Dictionary definitions for purple heart (1 of 2)

purple heart

noun

any of several tropical American leguminous trees of the genus Peltogyne
the decorative purple heartwood of any of these trees
informal, mainly British a heart-shaped purple tablet consisting mainly of amphetamine

British Dictionary definitions for purple heart (2 of 2)

Purple Heart

noun

a decoration awarded to members of the US Armed Forces for a wound incurred in action