aspirate
Americanverb (used with object)
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aspirates,
present (3rd person singular)
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aspirated,
past participle, past
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aspirating
present participle
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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:
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
Ms Butterworth noted Child I's swollen tummy and asked Ms Letby to aspirate her nasogastric feeding tube, which obtained a "fair amount of air" and 2ml of milk.
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2023
One of my parents would have to hold me up and the other one would have to hold hold my head and make sure that I didn't aspirate and things like that.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2022
Micro-fragmented adipose tissue and bone marrow aspirate treatments “are minimal manipulation and, as long as the physician is injecting ‘like into like,’ this is homologous use.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 5, 2021
At a party held one evening at the house of her friend, Mr. Hope, of Deep Dene, the conversation turned upon the abuse of the aspirate.
From Literary Byways by William Andrews
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
It likewise appears that the Romans were for a long period unacquainted with the use of aspirates, and were destitute of the phi and chi sounds of the Greek alphabet.
From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume I by John Dunlop
Powertrain Naturally aspirated liquid-cooled 90-degree V4 engine, 1,158-cc displacement, counter-rotating crankshaft, semi dry sump lubrication; six-speed manual transmission with straight-cut gears and multi-plate clutch, with slipper action on overrun; chain drive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
In terms of efficiency, a turbo engine would make a lot more sense than a naturally aspirated one.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026
By contrast, naturally aspirated engines breathe air like we do, at atmospheric pressures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
Under the endless hood is preserved Ferrari’s naturally aspirated V12 engine, a 6.5-liter, 818-hp mutant known as the HD140.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
I gasped and aspirated the water into my lungs, coughed and took more water in.
From Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
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
The changes on the beginning of nouns are made by aspirating an initial consonant; that is, writing h after it.
From Elements of Gaelic Grammar by Alexander Stewart
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.
