vent1
/vɛnt
/noun
1An opening that allows air, gas, or liquid to pass out of or into a confined space: remove any debris blocking the vents...
- Security of air intake vents is important, especially for high-rises and large sports facilities.
- They suffocated after an air vent was closed.
- According to the mechanical code, dryer vent ducts must be made of metal.
Synonyms
outlet, inlet, opening, aperture, vent hole, hole, gap, orifice, space, cavity, cleft, slit, pore, port;
duct, flue, shaft, channel, well, passage, air passage, airway, blowhole, breather
1.1The opening of a volcano, through which lava and other materials are emitted: pumice fragments pile up to form a conical heap round the vent...
- Columnar joints are best developed in sills and dykes, volcanic vents, and former lava lakes.
- Sliding and colliding, separating and fragmenting, great trenches are forming, and volcanoes and vents are being created.
- These new vents remained phreatomagmatic until 25 July, when the activity changed for 5 days to Strombolian and effusive.
1.2chiefly Scottish A flue of a chimney.A metallic maze of chimneys, pipes and vents glitters on the horizon in the desert outside Khartoum, dominating the landscape for miles around....
- Have chimneys and vents inspected when installing or changing vented heating appliances.
- It had several openings for doors and windows, plus a chimney vent on each end.
1.3 historical The touch hole of a gun.
1.4The anus, especially one in a lower animal such as a fish that serves for both excretion and reproduction.Researchers suspected that many, if not most, of the vent animals must produce larvae capable of dispersing through cold ocean water to new sites....
- Torrent salamanders are characterized by unique squared-off glands behind the vent in adult males.
- Birds in all plumages have yellow around their vents.
2 [mass noun] The release or expression of a strong emotion, energy, etc. children give vent to their anger in various ways...
- The best way to give vent to an emotion is to put it on a paper.
- He also encouraged children to explore their creative talents and give vent to their expression.
- It also provided them the much-awaited opportunity to give vent to their creative energy.
verb [with object]
1Give free expression to (a strong emotion): we vent our spleen on drug barons...
- With Lawson at his mercy, Cal is free to vent his anger on his betrayer.
- In no small measure, the Chinese fans may have tried to vent their frustration by expressing it in anti-Japanese gestures.
- Dolly took full advantage of the outrageous disruption to vent her bad temper and to express her extreme displeasure in all directions.
Synonyms
let out, give vent to, give free rein to, release, pour out, emit, discharge;
reveal, bring into the open, come out with, express, give expression to, air, communicate, utter, voice, give voice to, verbalize, articulate, broadcast, make public, proclaim, assert, ventilate, find an outlet for
2Provide with an outlet for air, gas, or liquid: tumble-dryers must be vented to the outside...
- Your clothes dryer should be vented directly to the outside.
- There is plumbing for a washing machine and the room is vented for a tumble dryer.
- To be safe, all types of pressure canners must be vented 10 minutes before they are pressurized.
2.1Discharge or expel (air, gas, or liquid) through an outlet: the plant was isolated and the gas vented...
- In a passive system, the gas is naturally vented into the atmosphere, and may include venting trenches, cutoff walls, or gas vents to direct the gas.
- In Nigeria, flared or vented natural gas exceed 2 billion cubic feet per day.
- Shirley should have seen bubbles burbling up as Shaw vented the expanding gases in his rebreather and drysuit.
2.2Permit air to enter (a beer cask): once the beer has been vented, the cask must be sold within three or four days
Derivatives
ventless
- A ventless sport coat, that hugs the body, is called a ‘Continental’ jacket.
- The pyroprocessing system featured a two-support rotary kiln with the ventless CFG Hybrid cooler.
- A ventless, propane heater offers ambience and all the heat we need, even at 20 below zero.
Origin
Late Middle English: partly from French vent 'wind', from Latin ventus, reinforced by French évent, from éventer 'expose to air', based on Latin ventus 'wind'.
wind from Old English:
A word from an Indo-European root that also gave us Latin ventus, the source of vent (Late Middle English) and ventilate (Late Middle English). Winnow, windwian in Old English, is to use the wind to separate grain and chaff. To get wind of something comes from the idea of hunted animal picking up the scent of a hunter. The phrase wind of change was used by Harold Macmillan, British prime minister 1957–63, during a speech he made in Cape Town in 1960: ‘The wind of change is blowing through this continent, and, whether we like it or not, this growth of [African] national consciousness is a political fact.’ See also ill. For the differently pronounced verb see wand
Rhymes
vent2
/vɛnt/noun
An opening or slit in a garment, especially in the lower part of the seam at the back of a coat.It's made from super 120's Italian wool and features a three-button closure, side vents and pickstitched lapels....
- The style is tight-fitting with side vents and an elastic waistband, typically made out of cotton or cotton/polyester blend jersey knit.
- A camp shirt should have a clean-finished hem with side vents so it can be worn tucked out for a relaxed look or tucked in.
Origin
Late Middle English: alteration of dialect fent, from Old French fente 'slit', based on Latin findere 'cleave'.