air
Pluralairs (some meanings)
Pluralairs (some meanings)
- 1The mixture of gases that surrounds the earth, chiefly nitrogen and oxygen, which people and animals breathe; also a similar mixture around another planet.
Plants release oxygen into the air during photosynthesis.
The air grew noticeably thinner as the climbers ascended.
UsageNo article in general statements, compressed air, breathe air; the air means the air around us: the air grew thinner.
Similaratmosphere
- 2To broadcast a program on television or radio; of a program, to be broadcast.
The documentary airs next Sunday in prime time.
Those old cartoons still air on weekend mornings.
UsageThe show can be the subject, it airs tonight at nine, or the station can: the network aired the episode.
- 3Aircraft as a means of travel or of carrying goods, used especially in by air and before another noun.
Fresh flowers from Colombia reach Miami by air within a day of being cut.
The company moved most of its air freight to a cheaper hub last year.
UsageNo article: send goods by air, like by sea or by land.
- 4The apparently open space above the ground that the atmosphere fills, once thought bounded by the firmament but now known to give way to the near-vacuum of outer space.
The fireworks burst high in the air over the harbor.
Eagles circled in the air, riding the warm rising currents.
UsageMostly with the and a word of place or movement: in the air, into the air. Up in the air can also mean undecided.
Similarsky
- 5A climate-control system that cools indoor air, especially in a building or vehicle.
They cranked up the air as soon as summer arrived.
The landlord finally fixed the air in our apartment.
UsageShort for air conditioning: turn on the air, turn off the air.
Similarair-conditioning, AC
- 6A television or radio signal, and by extension broadcasting or transmitted media in general.
The host returned to the air after a long suspension.
Profanity on the air can draw heavy fines from regulators.
UsageMostly in on the air and off the air: the station has been on the air since 1950.
Similarairwaves
Note
Broadcasting borrowed the sky its signals travel through. Thomas Streeter's Selling the Air (1996) treats access to the air as a political prize. The word also stretches to broadcast time in general, as when a campaign buys air in key markets. The broadcasting verb grows from this noun.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- The broadcasting sense developed from air as the space through which radio signals travel. en.wiktionary.org
- Thomas Streeter wrote Selling the Air. manuals.plus
- Selling the Air was first published in 1996. manuals.plus
- The book treats access to broadcasting as a political privilege. press.uchicago.edu
- 7The air outdoors or of a particular place, thought of for its freshness or its effect on health, as in fresh air, sea air or take the air.
The patient was wheeled onto the balcony to take the air.
Throw open the shutters and let some air into the stale room.
UsageCommon phrases: get some air, let some air in, fresh air, sea air.
- 8An impression, feeling or quality that a person, place or thing seems to have, as in an air of mystery or an air of authority.
A festive air settled over the town during the holidays.
The empty house had an air of neglect, with weeds growing through the porch.
UsageOften an air of + noun: an air of mystery. Also adjective + air: a festive air.
Similaraura, atmosphere, feeling, sense
Note
H. A. Vallance's 1951 Railway Magazine piece finds an air of quiet orderliness in a busy hall. Robert Conquest's The Great Terror (1968) gives Stalin the air of a great glacier. A sense of poise belongs here too, and the snob's airs branch from this meaning.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- H. A. Vallance described an air of quiet orderliness in a busy hall in Railway Magazine in 1951. en.wiktionary.org
- Robert Conquest wrote The Great Terror, first published in 1968. en.wikipedia.org
- The Great Terror describes Stalin as having the air of a great glacier. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 9To expose something to fresh air, or let fresh air into a room or building, so that it freshens, dries or is ventilated.
Grandmother aired the woolen quilts every spring.
Air your hiking boots overnight before packing them away.
UsageOften with out: air out the blankets, air the boots overnight.
Similarventilate
- 10To make an opinion, grievance, or concern publicly known; to present it to public view and sometimes discussion.
At the town meeting, longtime tenants aired grievances they had kept to themselves for years.
Residents gathered to air their objections to the proposed highway.
UsageUsual objects are complaints and disagreements: air your concerns, air grievances.
Similarvoice, express, vent, publicize
Note
The image of airing clothes carried over to opinions: what is aired is brought out of hiding into the open. The verb suits anything that has been kept back and is finally said in public.
- 11
- 12A manner or attitude that suggests one considers oneself superior to others; snobbishness.
For all her airs at dinner, she grew up on the same street as the rest of us.
His airs grated on the rest of the team, who valued plain talk.
Similarpretension, affectation
Note
Ben Travers, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, gives Sophia "the studied air" of someone still dazzled by a title.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Ben Travers wrote A Cuckoo in the Nest. openlibrary.org
- The narrator describes Sophia with the exact words "the studied air", indicating that a title still attracts her. en.wiktionary.org
- 13The condition of being momentarily off the ground in the middle of a jump.
He launched off the halfpipe and got massive air.
The bigger the air, the more time you have to spin before landing.
UsageUsed without a: riders get air or catch big air, and get more or less of it.
Note
A term from snowboarding, skateboarding and motor sports for time spent off the ground. The more air a rider gets, the more time there is to finish a trick before landing.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- More time airborne gives a rider more time to execute a trick before landing. benthamopenarchives.com
- 14Nothing; the absence of anything whatsoever.
His grand promises amounted to nothing but air.
Their entire case was built on air and collapsed in court.
UsageUsed figuratively in nothing but air and built on air, as in Their promises were nothing but air.
- 15A melodic piece of music, especially a song for a solo voice, such as an aria.
The composer wrote a tender air for the second act.
She accompanied the air on a lute.
Similarmelody, tune, song, aria
Note
Music's word for a tune that stands on its own, often sung by a single voice. In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mr. Collins says he would gladly oblige the company with an air, if only he could sing. T. S. Arthur lists the profane airs of "Yankee Doodle" and "Auld Lang Syne". Unlike aria, the word fits folk tunes as easily as concert pieces.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice. gutenberg.org
- Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813. gutenberg.org
- Mr. Collins says he would gladly sing an air for the company if he could sing. gutenberg.org
- Arthur's passage lists Yankee Doodle and Auld Lang Syne among the profane airs. en.wiktionary.org
- 1850 is a later edition date: Sketches of Life and Character was already reviewed in December 1849. Remove the date to avoid presenting a reprint year as the original publication year. gutenberg.org
- 16
- 17One of the four classical elements recognized by the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Alchemists described air as hot and moist and linked it with blood among the four humors.
In the old picture of the world, a layer of air lay above water and below fire.
Note
A term from ancient natural philosophy and later alchemy, where air stood beside earth, water and fire as one of the building blocks of the world. Wind could serve as a synonym in that system, a hint that the element was pictured as moving breath rather than measured gas. Today it belongs to writing about those older ideas.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Ancient natural philosophy and later alchemy treated air, earth, water and fire as fundamental constituents of the world. en.wikipedia.org
- Wind could be a synonym for air as a classical element. en.wiktionary.org
- 18Any specific gas considered as a distinct substance.
Note
Early chemistry used air for any gas with its own character, before gas became the general word. Hence names like fixed air in older scientific writing. When you meet it in a historical text, read air as "a particular gas", not as the atmosphere around us.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Early chemists called distinct gaseous substances airs. en.wikipedia.org
- This terminology preceded the general adoption of gas as the category name. gutenberg.org
- Fixed air was an older scientific name for a particular gas. en.wikipedia.org
- 19To deliberately ignore or snub someone.
He aired his old friend at the party without so much as a nod.
They will air anyone who crosses them.
UsagePut the person directly after air: She aired me or Why is she airing me?
Note
Slang from Multicultural London English, where to air someone is to blank them.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The slang sense ‘ignore or blank someone’ is associated with Multicultural London English. en.wiktionary.org
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
The word came through Middle English aire and Old French air from Latin āēr, itself from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr). It displaced the native Old English word lyft.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- English air came through Middle English aire and Old French air from Latin āēr, ultimately from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr). en.wiktionary.org
- Air displaced the native Old English word lyft. en.wiktionary.org