aerate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to expose to the action or effect of air or to cause air to circulate through.
to aerate milk in order to remove odors.
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to change or treat with air or a gas, especially with carbon dioxide.
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Physiology. to expose (a medium or tissue) to air as in the oxygenation of the blood in respiration.
verb
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to charge (a liquid) with a gas, esp carbon dioxide, as in the manufacture of effervescent drink
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to expose to the action or circulation of the air, so as to purify
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To add a gas, such as carbon dioxide, to a liquid.
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To supply with oxygen. Blood is aerated in the alveoli of the lungs.
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To supply with air or expose to the circulation of air.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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aerationnoun
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aeratornoun
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subaerationnoun
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subaerateverb (used with object)
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nonaeratedadjective
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nonaeratingadjective
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unaeratedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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aeratesimple
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aeratessimple
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have aeratedperfect
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has aeratedperfect
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am aeratingprogressive
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are aeratingprogressive
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is aeratingprogressive
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have been aeratingperfect progressive
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has been aeratingperfect progressive
Past
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aeratedsimple
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had aeratedperfect
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was aeratingprogressive
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were aeratingprogressive
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had been aeratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of aerate
Explanation
To aerate something is to put air into it. When a pastry chef whips cream, she aerates it, filling it with air until it's light and fluffy. Gardeners sometimes aerate soil with special spikes, allowing air to penetrate the surface and helping lawns or plants get more oxygen. If you aerate water or juice, you carbonate it, resulting in a fizzy soda. Cooking, baking, aquarium maintenance, and chemistry are just some of the activities that occasionally require someone to aerate some material. In Latin, aer means "air."
Vocabulary lists containing aerate
Dirty Words: The Language of Gardening
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A Culinary Vocabulary Sampler
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Elements of the Universe: Aer, Aero ("Air")
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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.
See Examples For:
Being able to banter about blade height and the best time to aerate also gains you access to an office subculture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
The water vole is often described as an "ecosystem engineer" or a "mini-beaver" by conservationists, as they dig burrows through watercourses and help aerate the soil.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
The obvious utility of iron for fashioning tougher and more durable tools used to clear forests, aerate land, and dig trench- based irrigation systems led others to adopt the new material.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
Alternatively, use a medium mixing bowl and a stiff spoon to combine and then stir and whip vigorously to aerate and lighten the mixture.
From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2022
In general the effect of all this habitation of the soil is to aerate it and improve both its drainage and the penetration of water throughout the layers of plant growth.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Before it sends the sewage back into the closest river, the plant aerates the wastewater.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 19, 2021
Start by whisking your dry ingredients together — this not only combines them, it aerates them.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2021
But it aerates what’s already been well-trod, offering an alternately pitiless and tenderhearted lens on such hardy themes as character, filial loyalty and American progress at its most naive and voraciously destructive.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 25, 2018
The nibs are then ground between stone wheels along with cane sugar for three or sometimes more days in a machine called a melangeur, which also aerates the mixture as it grinds.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 26, 2017
The male sea-horse puts the eggs in his breast-pocket; the male Kurtus carries them on the top of his head; the cock-paidle or lumpsucker guards them and aerates them in a corner of a shore-pool.
From The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4) A Plain Story Simply Told by Thomson, J. Arthur
In the oven, that aerated layer rises and sets into a thin, lacquered shell, delicate but intentional.
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2026
It was installed last month and has been carefully tended and aerated under pink LED lights since.
From Barron's ● Feb. 7, 2026
Seven hospitals built using Raac, or reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, were prioritised for remedial work last year, with the government setting a deadline of 2030.
From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2026
For decades, Wylie Dufresne worked at the cutting edge of haute cuisine, dreaming up high-concept dishes like deconstructed eggs Benedict or cubes of aerated foie gras.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
He inoculated two sealed, aerated cartons with a mixture of two fly strains—ABC and CBA—in a one-to-one ratio.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Grizzly bears also bring benefits, including dispersing seeds and aerating soil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2025
Their wide spreading roots help to loosen soil, aerating the earth and reducing erosion.
From National Geographic ● Oct. 2, 2023
The opposite technique is employed if a drink does not call for those ingredients — you stir to avoid aerating.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2023
When studying frogs in Australia's Watagan Mountains, Gould was surprised to find evaporated puddles where eggs thrived for days, swaddled in nests their mothers whip up by aerating mucus secretions with their toes.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 30, 2021
The marsh fiddlers are important in other ways as well, being useful scavengers and aerating the mud of the marshes by their extensive burrowings.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
