aerate

[air-eyt, ey-uh-reyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR aerate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), aer·at·ed, aer·at·ing.

to expose to the action or effect of air or to cause air to circulate through: to aerate milk in order to remove odors.

to change or treat with air or a gas, especially with carbon dioxide.

Physiology. to expose (a medium or tissue) to air as in the oxygenation of the blood in respiration.

Origin of aerate

1785–95; < Latin āer- aer- + -ate¹

Related formsaer·a·tion, nounnon·aer·at·ed, adjectivenon·aer·at·ing, adjectivesub·aer·ate, verb (used with object), sub·aer·at·ed, sub·aer·at·ing.sub·aer·a·tion, nounun·aer·at·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for aerate

oxygenate, charge, ventilate, inflate, freshen, aerify

Examples from the Web for aerate

Contemporary Examples of aerate

For 45 minutes, I get to aerate my brain, turn the world upside down, revel in music, poetry, humor.
My Teacher Who Brought Magic to Room 205
Susan Jane Gilman
July 20, 2009

Historical Examples of aerate

Shake well after the final sterilisation, to aerate the medium.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique
John William Henry Eyre
They hung out their washings where machine-gun bullets could aerate them.
Young Hilda at the Wars
Arthur Gleason
You can aerate his house, not only with air, but with ideas.
Mankind in the Making
H. G. Wells
They only absorb air to supply the tracheæ, which aerate the blood only within the general cavity of the body.
Our Common Insects
Alpheus Spring Packard
The object of this arrangement is to break up and aerate the stored grain.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3
Various

British Dictionary definitions for aerate

aerate

verb (tr)

to charge (a liquid) with a gas, esp carbon dioxide, as in the manufacture of effervescent drink

to expose to the action or circulation of the air, so as to purify

Derived Formsaeration, nounaerator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for aerate

1794, from Latin aer (genitive aeris; see air (n.1)) + verbal suffix -ate (2). Related: Aerated; aerating.

aerate in Science

aerate

[âr′āt]

To add a gas, such as carbon dioxide, to a liquid.

To supply with oxygen. Blood is aerated in the alveoli of the lungs.

To supply with air or expose to the circulation of air.