*air*

n. [ OE. air, eir, F. air, L. aër, fr. Gr. 'ah`r, air, mist, for 'a&digamma_;hr, fr. root 'a&digamma_; to blow, breathe, probably akin to E. wind. In sense 10 the French has taking a meaning fr. It. aria atmosphere, air, fr. the same Latin word; and in senses 11, 12, 13 the French meaning is either fr. L. aria, or due to confusion with F. aire, in an older sense of origin, descent. Cf. Aëry, Debonair, Malaria, Wind. ] 1. The fluid which we breathe, and which surrounds the earth; the atmosphere. It is invisible, inodorous, insipid, transparent, compressible, elastic, and ponderable. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ By the ancient philosophers, air was regarded as an element; but modern science has shown that it is essentially a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, with a small amount of carbon dioxide, the average proportions being, by volume: oxygen, 20.96 per cent.; nitrogen, 79.00 per cent.; carbon dioxide, 0.04 per cent. These proportions are subject to a very slight variability. Air also always contains some vapor of water. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Symbolically: Something unsubstantial, light, or volatile. “Charm ache with air.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was still all air and fire. [ Air and fire being the finer and quicker elements as opposed to earth and water. ] Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Any aëriform body; a gas; as, oxygen was formerly called vital air. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Air in motion; a light breeze; a gentle wind. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let vernal airs through trembling osiers play. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Odoriferous or contaminated air. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. That which surrounds and influences. [ 1913 Webster ]

The keen, the wholesome air of poverty. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Utterance abroad; publicity; vent. [ 1913 Webster ]

You gave it air before me. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. Intelligence; information. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Mus.) (a) 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. (b) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. The peculiar look, appearance, and bearing of a person; mien; demeanor; as, the air of a youth; a heavy air; a lofty air. “His very air.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. Peculiar appearance; apparent character; semblance; manner; style. [ 1913 Webster ]

It was communicated with the air of a secret. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. pl. An artificial or affected manner; show of pride or vanity; haughtiness; as, it is said of a person, he puts on airs. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

14. (Paint.) (a) The representation or reproduction of the effect of the atmospheric medium through which every object in nature is viewed. New Am. Cyc. (b) Carriage; attitude; action; movement; as, the head of that portrait has a good air. Fairholt. [ 1913 Webster ]

15. (Man.) The artificial motion or carriage of a horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Air is much used adjectively or as the first part of a compound term. In most cases it might be written indifferently, as a separate limiting word, or as the first element of the compound term, with or without the hyphen; as, air bladder, air-bladder, or airbladder; air cell, air-cell, or aircell; air-pump, or airpump. [ 1913 Webster ]

Air balloon. See Balloon. --
Air bath. (a) An apparatus for the application of air to the body. (b) An arrangement for drying substances in air of any desired temperature. --
Air castle. See Castle in the air, under Castle. --
Air compressor, a machine for compressing air to be used as a motive power. --
Air crossing, a passage for air in a mine. --
Air cushion, an air-tight cushion which can be inflated; also, a device for arresting motion without shock by confined air. --
Air fountain, a contrivance for producing a jet of water by the force of compressed air. --
Air furnace, a furnace which depends on a natural draft and not on blast. --
Air line, a straight line; a bee line. Hence
Air-line, adj.; as, air-line road. --
Air lock (Hydr. Engin.), an intermediate chamber between the outer air and the compressed-air chamber of a pneumatic caisson. Knight. --
Air port (Nav.), a scuttle or porthole in a ship to admit air. --
Air spring, a spring in which the elasticity of air is utilized. --
Air thermometer, a form of thermometer in which the contraction and expansion of air is made to measure changes of temperature. --
Air threads, gossamer. --
Air trap, a contrivance for shutting off foul air or gas from drains, sewers, etc.; a stench trap. --
Air trunk, a pipe or shaft for conducting foul or heated air from a room. --
Air valve, a valve to regulate the admission or egress of air; esp. a valve which opens inwardly in a steam boiler and allows air to enter. --
Air way, a passage for a current of air; as the air way of an air pump; an air way in a mine. --
In the air. (a) Prevalent without traceable origin or authority, as rumors. (b) Not in a fixed or stable position; unsettled. (c) (Mil.) Unsupported and liable to be turned or taken in flank; as, the army had its wing in the air. --
on the air, currently transmitting; live; -- used of radio and television broadcasts, to indicate that the images and sounds being picked up by cameras and microphones are being broadcast at the present moment. In call-in programs where individuals outside a radio or television studio have telephoned into the station, when their voice is being directly broadcast, the host of the program commonly states “You're on the air.” as a warning that the conversation is not private. --
To take air, to be divulged; to be made public. --
To take the air, to go abroad; to walk or ride out. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Aired p. pr. & vb. n. Airing. ] [ See Air, n., and cf. Aërate. ] 1. To expose to the air for the purpose of cooling, refreshing, or purifying; to ventilate; as, to air a room. [ 1913 Webster ]

It were good wisdom . . . that the jail were aired. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Were you but riding forth to air yourself. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To expose for the sake of public notice; to display ostentatiously; as, to air one's opinion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Airing a snowy hand and signet gem. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To expose to heat, for the purpose of expelling dampness, or of warming; as, to air linen; to air liquors. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. (Basketball) A throw at the basket that completely misses, not even hitting the rim. Compare swoosh and nothing but net. [ PJC ]

A sack or mattress inflated with air, and used as a bed.
Syn. -- air mattress, air-bed [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Anat.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A sac or bladder full of air in an animal or plant; also an air hole in a casting. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. conveyed by or through air, as dust or pollen; as, a clean room is needed to avoid airborne contaminants. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. in flight; flying; -- said of an airplane. [ PJC ]

3. (Mil.) carried directly to the site of battle by aircraft; -- said of combat troops, as, an airborne division. [ PJC ]

n. 1. 1 a small parachute or articulated flap to reduce the speed of an aircraft.
Syn. -- dive brake [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a vehicular brake that operates by compressed air; especially for heavy vehicles. Same as air brake.
Syn. -- air brake [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. an atomizer to spray by means of compressed air. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

(Mach.) A railway brake powered by compressed air. Knight.
Syn. -- airbrake. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. 1. to paint with an airbrush. The old car looks like new now that we airbrushed it [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. to alter or remove by use of an airbrush. “After the photographer airbrushed out the wrinkles on her face she looked twenty years younger.” [ PJC ]

. A kind of atomizer for applying liquid coloring matter, such as paint, in a spray by compressed air. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Erected in the air; having no solid foundation; chimerical; as, an air-built castle. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Bot.) A cavity in the cellular tissue of plants, containing air only. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A chamber or cavity filled with air, in an animal or plant. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A cavity containing air to act as a spring for equalizing the flow of a liquid in a pump or other hydraulic machine. [ 1913 Webster ]

A faucet to allow escape of air. [ 1913 Webster ]

. In devices generating heat, such as gasoline-engine motor vehicles, the cooling of the device by increasing its radiating surface by means of ribs or radiators, and placing it so that it is exposed to a current of air. Cf. Water cooling. -- Air"-cooled`, a. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]

n. sing. & pl. Any vehicle, such as an airplane, helicopter, balloon, etc., for floating in, or flying through, the air. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

n. 1. 1 a noncommissioned officer in the British Royal Air Force. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. the crew of an aircraft. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. a member of an aircrew. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 a large building at an airport where aircraft can be stored and maintained.
Syn. -- hangar, repair shed [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Drawn in air; imaginary. [ 1913 Webster ]

This is the air-drawn dagger. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

A drill driven by the elastic pressure of condensed air; a pneumatic drill. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. an airfield equipped with control tower and hangers as well as accommodations for passengers and cargo.
Syn. -- airport, aerodrome [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. abounding in fresh air.
Syn. -- airy [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. made public by radio or television. The report was aired on the seven o'clock news.
Syn. -- broadcast [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. 1. 1 a breed of large wiry-coated terriers, bred in Yorkshire.
Syn. -- Airedale terrier [ WordNet 1.5 ]

An engine driven by heated or by compressed air. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who exposes to the air. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A frame on which clothes are aired or dried. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a place where planes take off and land; an airport; -- usually used of airports other than those with regularly sheduled commercial flights, such as those at military bases or small fields for private aircraft.
Syn. -- landing field, flying field, field [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. the flow of air. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 a surface such as the wing of an airplane designed to provide reactive force when in motion relative to the surrounding air.
Syn. -- aerofoil [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. the framework and covering of an airplane or rocket (excluding the engines). [ WordNet 1.5 ]

. (Physics) An air-filled gap in a magnetic or electric circuit; specif., in a dynamo or motor, the space between the field-magnet poles and the armature; clearance. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

See under Gas. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. The common BB gun is a type of air gun. [ 1913 Webster ]

. a hammer powered by compressed air so as to be able to provide powerful repeated strokes; a pneumatic hammer. [ PJC ]

n. an airheaded person. [ disparaging ] [ PJC ]

adj. 1. lacking seriousness; given to frivolity; scatterbrained; stupid; simple-minded; as, airheaded teenagers. Contrasted with serious, solemn
Syn. -- dizzy, empty-headed, featherbrained, giddy, lightheaded, light-headed, silly [ WordNet 1.5 ]

1. A hole to admit or discharge air; specifically, a spot in the ice not frozen over. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Founding) A fault in a casting, produced by a bubble of air; a blowhole. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Aëronautics) A local region in the atmosphere having a downward movement and offering less than normal support for the sustaining surfaces of a flying machine, causing an airplane to drop suddenly. Same as air pocket. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

adv. In an airy manner; lightly; gaily; jauntily; flippantly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The state or quality of being airy; openness or exposure to the air; as, the airiness of a country seat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Lightness of spirits; gayety; levity; as, the airiness of young persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A walk or a ride in the open air; a short excursion for health's sake. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An exposure to air, or to a fire, for warming, drying, etc.; as, the airing of linen, or of a room. [ 1913 Webster ]

A jacket having air-tight cells, or cavities which can be filled with air, to render persons buoyant in swimming. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not open to a free current of air; wanting fresh air, or communication with the open air. [ 1913 Webster ]

Spirit level. See Level. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Resembling air. [ 1913 Webster ]

. an organization, usually commercial or governmental, providing transportation by airplane for freight or passengers. The term includes the organization, its personnel, equipment and other properties, such as approved air routes. [ PJC. ]

. A path through the air made easy for aërial navigation by steady winds. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. A thoughtless, gay person. [ Obs. ] “Slight airlings.” B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]