Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Valvate \Valv"ate\, a. [L. valvatus having folding doors.]
   1. Resembling, or serving as, a valve; consisting of, or
      opening by, a valve or valves; valvular.

   2. (Bot.)
      (a) Meeting at the edges without overlapping; -- said of
          the sepals or the petals of flowers in [ae]stivation,
          and of leaves in vernation.
      (b) Opening as if by doors or valves, as most kinds of
          capsules and some anthers.