ventilator
Americannoun
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a person or thing that ventilates.
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a contrivance or opening for replacing foul or stagnant air with fresh air.
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Medicine/Medical. an apparatus to produce artificial respiration, moving air into and out of a patient’s lungs.
The patient presented with signs of respiratory failure and was placed immediately on a ventilator.
noun
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an opening or device, such as a fan, used to ventilate a room, building, etc
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med a machine that maintains a flow of air into and out of the lungs of a patient who is unable to breathe normally
Etymology
Origin of ventilator
First recorded in 1735–45; ventilat(e) + -or 2
Compare meaning
How does ventilator compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A ventilator is a machine that brings in good air that's safe to breathe and keeps bad air out. A kitchen ventilator uses fans and filters to direct greasy stove exhaust outside. There are architectural ventilators, for keeping the air inside buildings clean, and also medical ventilators, which work to keep breathable air moving in and out of a patient's lungs. This kind of ventilator is only used when someone is unable to breathe effectively on their own. In both cases, ventilators are all about air. The word comes from the Latin root ventulus, "a breeze."
Vocabulary lists containing ventilator
Novel Study: Fahrenheit 451, Part I
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Ventus and Venire
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Novel Study: A Night to Remember, Chapter 6–Passenger List
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the end the government said the Ventilator Challenge helped scale up the production of three existing models, and approved one new design by the medical devices firm Penlon.
From BBC • Mar. 11, 2025
Ventilator coverage problems started picking up after technology improvements made the devices easier to use, according to Dr. Lisa Wolfe, a professor at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 9, 2024
Ventilator usage has average 391 per day in November, 81% higher than the 216 daily in the two weeks prior.
From Washington Times • Nov. 16, 2020
“The Ventilator Challenge has been a great success,” Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said.
From Reuters • Jul. 5, 2020
I know of none which are superior to the common Emerson Ventilator, on which there is now no patent.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
