# aspiration

Pronunciation: say "as-puh-RAY-shun" /ˌæspəˈɹeɪʃən/

## Noun

1. An ardent wish or desire, especially for something elevated or spiritual.
   - Simple: A strong wish to reach a high or important goal.
   - _His lifelong aspiration to serve the poor shaped every decision he made._
   - _The novel captures a generation's aspiration toward freedom and dignity._
2. The action of drawing air, fluid, or other matter inward by breathing or suction.
   - Simple: The act of breathing something in, or drawing it in through the mouth or nose.
   - _The aspiration of stomach contents into the airway is a serious risk during anesthesia._
   - _Repeated aspiration of fine dust over many years damaged the miners' lungs._
3. The withdrawal of fluid, tissue, or other matter from a body cavity, cyst, or tumor, usually through a hollow needle.
   - Simple: Taking fluid or tissue out of the body, usually with a thin hollow needle.
   - _Fine-needle aspiration confirmed that the lump in her neck was benign._
   - _The surgeon scheduled an aspiration to drain the abscess before closing the wound._
4. The puff of air released immediately after certain consonant sounds.
   - Simple: A small puff of air that comes out after you say certain sounds.
   - _In English, aspiration distinguishes the initial 'p' of 'pot' from the quieter 'p' in 'spot'._
   - _Speakers of some languages hear aspiration as a wholly separate sound._
5. The silent, liaison-blocking 'h' that begins some French words, mostly of Germanic origin.
   - Simple: A silent 'h' at the start of some French words that stops them from joining the word before.
   - _Because of its aspiration, 'le héros' never contracts to 'l'héros'._
   - _The aspiration on certain French words prevents both elision and liaison._
6. A form of lenition marked in spelling by writing a consonant as a digraph with 'h', especially word-initially.
   - Simple: A sound change in some languages, shown in writing by adding an 'h' after a letter.
   - _Celtic languages indicate aspiration by inserting 'h' after the lenited consonant._
   - _In this orthography, aspiration changes 'p' to 'ph' at the start of a word._

## Origin

**Meaning 1** — Formed from the verb "aspire" combined with the suffix "-ation".
**Meanings 2–6** — Formed from "aspirate" plus the suffix "-ion", or borrowed from Latin "aspiratio".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/aspiration (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).