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(r), n.[OE. air, eir, F. air, L. ar, fr. Gr. 'ah°r, air, mist, for 'ahr, fr. root 'a 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. Ary, 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. 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 Air (r), v. t.[imp. & p. p.Aired (rd); p. pr. & vb. n.Airing.] [See Air, n., and cf. Arate.] 1. To expose to the air for the purpose of cooling, refreshing, or purifying; to ventilate; as, to air a room. It were good wisdom . . . that the jail were aired. Bacon. Were you but riding forth to air yourself. Shak. 2. To expose for the sake of public notice; to display ostentatiously; as, to air one's opinion. Airing a snowy hand and signet gem. Tennyson. 3. To expose to heat, for the purpose of expelling dampness, or of warming; as, to air linen; to air liquors. スポンサード リンク
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