airing

Pluralairings

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A period of exposure to warm or fresh air, often to dry or freshen something.

   The quilts got their first airing of spring on the clothesline.

   He took the tent out for an airing before the camping trip.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   The broadcast of a television or radio program to the public.

   The documentary's airing sparked a national debate overnight.

   Network executives scheduled the finale's airing for prime time.

   Similarbroadcast, showing, screening, transmission

   Note

   Recordings get airings as well as programs. Wayne Jancik's The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders (1990) says a singer's records were almost never "given mass airings." The noun is countable, so it pluralizes easily, and it often follows give or get: a song is given an airing, and a series gets its first airing.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   An occasion on which an opinion is voiced or a subject is discussed in public.

   The scandal received a thorough airing in the weekend papers.

   Long-buried family tensions got an airing during the reunion.

   Similardiscussion, hearing, exposure

   Note

   Here what is brought out into the open is a subject rather than a quilt. The noun usually follows have, get or receive. Modern Railways in 1962 writes of a controversy that "has not had an airing" in debate over a transport bill. The verb works the same way: people air grievances, concerns or differences.

4. 4
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of air.

   The station is airing a new drama this fall.

   Airing your laundry outside saves energy on dry days.

   Note

   The -ing form carries every use of the verb, including one that takes no object: a network airs a show, but the show itself can also be airing tonight. In British slang from Multicultural London English, airing someone means ignoring them, so context decides. Once it takes an article, as in an airing, it has become a noun, like the broadcast itself.

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