Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To admit or force fresh air into (a building or closed space, such as a mine) to replace stale or noxious air.
  • intransitive verb To circulate through and freshen.
  • intransitive verb To provide with a vent, as for airing.
  • intransitive verb To expose (a substance) to the circulation of fresh air, as to retard spoilage.
  • intransitive verb To expose to public discussion or examination.
  • intransitive verb To inhale and exhale (air, for example); breathe.
  • intransitive verb To keep (a person or animal) breathing by artificial means.
  • intransitive verb To breathe in and out; inhale and exhale.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To winnow; fan.
  • To admit air to; expose to the free passage of air or wind; supply with fresh air; purify by expulsion of foul air: as, to ventilate a room.
  • To purify by supplies of fresh air; provide air for in respiration by means of lungs or gills; aërate; oxygenate: as, the lungs ventilate the blood.
  • To expose to common consideration or criticism; submit to free examination and discussion; make public.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To open and expose to the free passage of air; to supply with fresh air, and remove impure air from; to air
  • transitive verb To provide with a vent, or escape, for air, gas, etc..
  • transitive verb To change or renew, as the air of a room.
  • transitive verb To winnow; to fan.
  • transitive verb To sift and examine; to bring out, and subject to penetrating scrutiny; to expose to examination and discussion.
  • transitive verb To give vent to; to utter; to make public.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To replace stale or noxious air with fresh.
  • verb To circulate air through a building, etc.
  • verb To provide with a vent.
  • verb To expose something to the circulation of fresh air.
  • verb To expose something to public examination or discussion.
  • verb medicine To provide manual or mechanical breathing to a patient.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb expose to cool or cold air so as to cool or freshen
  • verb circulate through and freshen
  • verb give expression or utterance to
  • verb expose to the circulation of fresh air so as to retard spoilage
  • verb furnish with an opening to allow air to circulate or gas to escape

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English ventilaten, to blow away, from Latin ventilāre, ventilāt-, to fan, from ventulus, diminutive of ventus, wind; see wē- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Latin ventilātus, past participle of ventilō.

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Examples

  • This also means that my laptop sits between two piles that offer just enough room on either side for the thing to rest on a small cardboard box I use to elevate the rear of the laptop and "ventilate" it.

    Idea Landing Zone joshenglish 2008

  • The rooms "ventilate" from one to another; bedroom, dining-room, and kitchen being practically one room, with only one window opening to the

    A Handbook of Health Woods Hutchinson 1896

  • He had recently declared in Yorkshire that "nothing on earth should ever tempt him to accept place," and that he was conscious of the power to compel the execution of measures which, before that democratic election, he could only "ventilate".

    The Political History of England - Vol XI From Addington's Administration to the close of William IV.'s Reign (1801-1837) John Knight Fotheringham 1867

  • You and I often get angry at God or at life itself when we lose loved ones, and the Bible is telling us it's OK to feel that anger, even to "ventilate" that anger.

    That We All May Be One 2009

  • Diary of a Modern Matriarch about the topic of Prop 8 and a way to 'ventilate' the negative feelings about how all that crazy-ass shit went down on the West Coast.

    The New Girl 2008

  • The Labor Department's lawsuit accuses Freedom of failing to do enough to prevent the mine's roof and walls from collapsing and to effectively ventilate the mine to remove methane and other gases.

    Feds Sue To Close Massey's Freedom Energy Mine No. 1 In Kentucky AP 2010

  • The Labor Department's lawsuit accuses Freedom of failing to do enough to prevent the mine's roof and walls from collapsing and to effectively ventilate the mine to remove methane and other gases.

    Feds Sue To Close Massey's Freedom Energy Mine No. 1 In Kentucky AP 2010

  • Here's how to start returning your home to the condition it was in before the deluge: When the rains stop, open up the doors and windows to ventilate the area ..

    Storm-battered Easterners try to dry out 2010

  • Mr. Blankenship says he believes MSHA forced the company to use an inferior plan to ventilate methane from the mine, based on past disagreements between the company and the agency, and says MSHA has an incentive to withhold information.

    Disaster Probe Frustrates Miners, Families Kris Maher 2010

  • But Massey said the disagreement over how to ventilate the mine showed just why the agency should have open hearings on the accident.

    Massey Bashes Mine Regulator Kris Maher 2010

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