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AIRING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of supplying fresh air and getting rid of foul air
Synonyms:
airing; ventilation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("airing" is a kind of...):
improvement (the act of improving something)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A short excursion (a walk or ride) in the open air
Example:
he took the dogs for an airing
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("airing" is a kind of...):
excursion; expedition; jaunt; junket; outing; pleasure trip; sashay (a journey taken for pleasure)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The opening of a subject to widespread discussion and debate
Synonyms:
airing; dissemination; public exposure; spreading
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("airing" is a kind of...):
transmission (communication by means of transmitted signals)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "airing"):
circulation (the dissemination of copies of periodicals (as newspapers or magazines))
extension; propagation (the spreading of something (a belief or practice) into new regions)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb air
Context examples:
Miss Fairfax's recent illness had offered a fair plea for Mrs. Weston to invite her to an airing; she had drawn back and declined at first, but, on being pressed had yielded; and, in the course of their drive, Mrs. Weston had, by gentle encouragement, overcome so much of her embarrassment, as to bring her to converse on the important subject.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
After doing the civil all round, and airing our best bonnet, we shall astonish you by the elegant hospitalities of our mansion, the brilliant society we shall draw about us, and the beneficial influence we shall exert over the world at large.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Mr. Weston had accompanied her to Mrs. Bates's, and gone through his share of this essential attention most handsomely; but she having then induced Miss Fairfax to join her in an airing, was now returned with much more to say, and much more to say with satisfaction, than a quarter of an hour spent in Mrs. Bates's parlour, with all the encumbrance of awkward feelings, could have afforded.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
