vent
pronunciation
How to pronounce vent in British English:
UK [vent]
How to pronounce vent in American English:
US [vent]
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- Noun:
- a hole for the escape of gas or air
- external opening of urinary or genital system of a lower vertebrate
- a fissure in the earth's crust (or in the surface of some other planet) through which molten lava and gases erupt
- a slit in a garment (as in the back seam of a jacket)
- activity that releases or expresses creative energy or emotion
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- Verb:
- give expression or utterance to
- expose to cool or cold air so as to cool or freshen
Word Origin
- vent
- vent: English has two words vent. The verb, ‘provide with an outlet’ [14], came via Old French esventer from Vulgar Latin *exventāre ‘let out air’. This was a compound verb formed from the Latin prefix ex- ‘out’ and ventum ‘wind’ (source also of English ventilate [15] and distantly related to English wind). Vent ‘slit in the back of a garment’ [15] goes back via Old French fente to Vulgar Latin *findita ‘slit’, a noun use of the feminine past participle of Latin findere ‘split’ (source also of English fission [19] and fissure [14]).=> ventilate, wind; fission, fissure
- vent (v.)
- late 14c., "emit from a confined space," probably a shortening of aventer "expose oneself to the air" (c. 1300), from Old French eventer "let out, expose to air," from Vulgar Latin *exventare, from Latin ex- "out" + ventus "wind" (see wind (n.1)). Sense of "express freely" first recorded 1590s. Sense of "divulge, publish" (1590s) is behind phrase vent one's spleen (see spleen). Related: Vented; venting.
- vent (n.)
- c. 1400, "anus," from Old French vent from verb eventer (see vent (v.)) and in part from Middle English aventer, from the French verb. Perhaps also merged with or influenced by Middle English fent "opening or slit in a the front of a garment (usually held closed with a brooch)," c. 1400, from Old French fente, from Latin findere "to split" (see fissure). Meaning "outlet for water," also "air hole, breathing hole" is from mid-15c. Meaning "action of venting" is recorded from c. 1500.
Example
- 1. Others protest and vent online for years with no result .
- 2. Let its ashes float away on the wind or up the vent .
- 3. Open your air vent , and aim it so it passes just in front of your face .
- 4. Experts have criticised tepco for being too slow to vent pent-up gas outside the plant .
- 5. Let them vent if they have to .