aspirate
Americanverb (used with object)
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Phonetics.
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to articulate (a speech sound, especially a stop) so as to produce an audible puff of breath, as with the first t of total, the second t being unaspirated.
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to articulate (the beginning of a word or syllable) with an h -sound, as in which, pronounced (hwich), or hitch as opposed to witch or itch.
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Medicine/Medical.
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to remove (a fluid) from a body cavity by use of an aspirator or suction syringe.
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to inhale (fluid or a foreign body) into the bronchi and lungs, often after vomiting.
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to draw or remove by suction.
noun
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Phonetics. a speech sound having as an obvious concomitant an audible puff of breath, as initial stop consonants or initial h -sounds.
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Medicine/Medical. the substance or contents that have been aspirated.
adjective
verb
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phonetics
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to articulate (a stop) with some force, so that breath escapes with audible friction as the stop is released
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to pronounce (a word or syllable) with an initial h
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to draw in or remove by inhalation or suction, esp to suck (air or fluid) from a body cavity or to inhale (fluid) into the lungs after vomiting
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to supply air to (an internal-combustion engine)
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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aspiratesimple
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aspiratessimple
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have aspiratedperfect
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has aspiratedperfect
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am aspiratingprogressive
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are aspiratingprogressive
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is aspiratingprogressive
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have been aspiratingperfect progressive
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has been aspiratingperfect progressive
Past
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aspiratedsimple
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had aspiratedperfect
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was aspiratingprogressive
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were aspiratingprogressive
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had been aspiratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of aspirate
First recorded in 1660–70; from Latin aspīrātus “breathed upon” (past participle of aspīrāre ); see origin at aspire, -ate 1
Explanation
To aspirate is to exhale or breathe air out as you speak. Many languages include word sounds that require the speaker to aspirate. Many speakers aspirate as they pronounce certain sounds, and in linguistics or speech therapy, it's a common term. In medicine, to aspirate is something very different — it means to suck or breathe in, often in a dangerous way. Someone who drowns, for example, aspirates water as they struggle. The Latin root is aspirare, "to breathe upon, blow upon, or breathe."
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:
In order to prevent the potential ectopic pregnancy from rupturing in the fallopian tube, which can lead to severe bleeding or death, a doctor would usually go in and aspirate the contents of the uterus.
From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2024
She is concerned that Óisín's cerebral palsy puts him at a greater risk of complications, saying she had been warned there was a danger he could aspirate.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2023
Aspiration occurs in one of every 2,000 to 3,000 operations that require sedation, and almost half of patients who aspirate during surgery develop a related lung injury.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 13, 2023
Numerous studies suggest clinical improvement in knee osteoarthritis using PRP, micro-fragmented adipose tissue transfer and bone marrow aspirate.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 5, 2021
In his language, for example, the G, when before the vowels E and I, the J always, and, in certain cases, the X, have the value of the aspirate.
From Calavar or The Knight of The Conquest, A Romance of Mexico by Bird, Robert Montgomery
That could change, if relatively painless and simple fine needle aspirates of the liver can capture enough tissue.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 29, 2018
The bearded Ballard hoots and snarls and aspirates, but there’s no amount of disinfectant that can clean up the screen.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 31, 2014
And then there were tweets about 2016 presidential aspirates - or, rather, one presidential aspirant who has been the butt of many Twitter jokes of late.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2014
The British middle classes, however, have stubbornly continued to cling to their social aspirations and their aspirates.
From Time Magazine Archive
The want of aspirates also forms a point of comparison.13.Apollodorus,
From The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2 by Müller, Karl Otfried
On a recent afternoon, the scream of a naturally aspirated, 500-horsepower six-cylinder engine echoed across the Mojave Desert.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
The other time traveler is the engine: a naturally aspirated, 2.0-liter in-line four.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
A turbo engine is not only arguably more road-relevant, but is also more efficient than a naturally aspirated one, which means less fuel, even if turbos and their associated architecture are heavy and complicated.
From BBC ● May 14, 2026
This is important, because Ben Sulayem was outflanked by the manufacturers when he last tried switching to a naturally aspirated engine, a V10, a little over a year ago.
From BBC ● May 14, 2026
I gasped and aspirated the water into my lungs, coughed and took more water in.
From Little Brother by Doctorow, Cory
The autopsy determined he died from asphyxia after aspirating on his own vomit, and that his death was accidental.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2025
At the time, modern abortion medications were not available, and the technique was performed by aspirating the contents of the uterus through a tube.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 26, 2022
With the air breathers, there’s different ways that oil gets into their bodies and one of them is basically aspirating the oil, which gets into the lungs and the circulatory system.
From The Verge ● Oct. 8, 2021
Finally, came the important part: “aspirating framework” — indicating an aspirating detector in the cathedral’s attic, which was also known as the framework.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 17, 2019
This was the aspirating cylinder, which drew hydrogen from an inflated bag, and mixed it with twice its bulk of air by means of a two-way cock.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 417, December 29, 1883 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.
