meaning of air
1. The fluid which we breathe, and which surrounds the earth; the atmosphere. It is invisible, inodorous, insipid, transparent, compressible, elastic, and ponderable.
2. Symbolically: Something unsubstantial, light, or volatile.
3. A particular state of the atmosphere, as respects heat, cold, moisture, etc. , or as affecting the sensations; as, a smoky air, a damp air, the morning air, etc.
4. Any aeriform body; a gas; as, oxygen was formerly called vital air.
5. Air in motion; a light breeze; a gentle wind.
6. Odoriferous or contaminated air.
7. That which surrounds and influences.
8. Utterance abroad; publicity; vent.
9. Intelligence; information.
10. A musical idea, or motive, rhythmically developed in consecutive single tones, so as to form a symmetrical and balanced whole, which may be sung by a single voice to the stanzas of a hymn or song, or even to plain prose, or played upon an instrument; a melody; a tune; an aria.
11. In harmonized chorals, psalmody, part songs, etc. , the part which bears the tune or melody -- in modern harmony usually the upper part -- is sometimes called the air.
12. The peculiar look, appearance, and bearing of a person; mien; demeanor; as, the air of a youth; a heavy air; a lofty air.
13. Peculiar appearance; apparent character; semblance; manner; style.
14. An artificial or affected manner; show of pride or vanity; haughtiness; as, it is said of a person, he puts on airs.
15. The representation or reproduction of the effect of the atmospheric medium through which every object in nature is viewed.
16. Carriage; attitude; action; movement; as, the head of that portrait has a good air.
17. The artificial motion or carriage of a horse.
18. To expose to the air for the purpose of cooling, refreshing, or purifying; to ventilate; as, to air a room.
19. To expose for the sake of public notice; to display ostentatiously; as, to air ones opinion.
20. To expose to heat, for the purpose of expelling dampness, or of warming; as, to air linen; to air liquors.
21. A sack or matters inflated with air, and used as a bed.
22. An air sac, sometimes double or variously lobed, in the visceral cavity of many fishes. It originates in the same way as the lungs of air-breathing vertebrates, and in the adult may retain a tubular connection with the pharynx or esophagus.
23. A sac or bladder full of air in an animal or plant; also an air hole in a casting.
24. A railway brake operated by condensed air.
25. A cavity in the cellular tissue of plants, containing air only.
26. A receptacle of air in various parts of the system; as, a cell or minute cavity in the walls of the air tubes of the lungs; the air sac of birds; a dilatation of the air vessels in insects.
27. A chamber or cavity filled with air, in an animal or plant.
28. A cavity containing air to act as a spring for equalizing the flow of a liquid in a pump or other hydraulic machine.
29. A faucet to allow escape of air.
30. A drill driven by the elastic pressure of condensed air; a pneumatic drill.
31. An engine driven by heated or by compressed air.
32. See under Gas.
33. A kind of gun in which the elastic force of condensed air is used to discharge the ball. The air is powerfully compressed into a reservoir attached to the gun, by a condensing pump, and is controlled by a valve actuated by the trigger.
34. A hole to admit or discharge air; specifically, a spot in the ice not frozen over.
35. A fault in a casting, produced by a bubble of air; a blowhole.
36. A vessel, cell, duct, or tube containing or conducting air; as the air vessels of insects, birds, plants, etc. ; the air vessel of a pump, engine, etc. For the latter, see Air chamber. The air vessels of insects are called tracheae, of plants spiral vessels.
37. A pipe for the passage of air; esp. a ventilating pipe.
38. A plant deriving its sustenance from the air alone; an aerophyte.
39. An instrument to measure the weight of air.
40. A kind of pump for exhausting air from a vessel or closed space; also, a pump to condense air or force it into a closed space.
41. A pump used to exhaust from a condenser the condensed steam, the water used for condensing, and any commingled air.
42. One of the spaces in different parts of the bodies of birds, which are filled with air and connected with the air passages of the lungs; an air cell.
43. A passage, usually vertical, for admitting fresh air into a mine or a tunnel.
44. Spirit level. See Level.
45. A jacket having air-tight cells, or cavities which can be filled with air, to render persons buoyant in swimming.
46. A stove for heating a current of air which is directed against its surface by means of pipes, and then distributed through a building.
47. travel via aircraft; "air travel involves too much waiting in airports"; "if youve time to spare go by
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Related Words
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