airing

Syllables: air·ing/ˈɛəɹɪŋ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈɛːɹɪŋ/

airing noun: exposure of something to the air, especially fresh or warm air for the purpose of ventilating or drying; (countable) an instance of this. Also the present participle and gerund of air.

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Noun

airing (countable and uncountable, plural airings)

(uncountable) Exposure of something to the air, especially fresh or warm air for the purpose of ventilating or drying; (countable) an instance of this.
- Hee'll ſend ſuch vvord, for ayring o' the houſe / As you ſhall haue ſufficient time, to quit it.1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, signature...
- Ventilation. […] [A] vvinnovving, or airing in the vvind; […]1611, Randle Cotgrave, compiler, “Ventilation”, in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, signature Lllll, recto, column 2
1. (countable) An act of taking an animal (especially a dog or horse) into the open air for exercise.
  - [R]yde out your Horſe euery night, two howers after Sunne ſette, ⁊ abide abroade with him three howres at the leaſt, not exceeding foote-pace, which we call night ayrings.1593, Iruis [i.e., Gervase] Markham, “How to Chuse a Horse for Hunting, How to Trayne Hym there-vnto: And also Howe to Dyet Him, hauing Made Some Great Match or Wager”, in A Discource of...
  - Touching ayring or vvalking of grey-hounds, vvhich is a great nouriſher and increaſer of vvinde, it muſt devvlie be done euerie morning before ſunne-riſe, and euery euening before ſunne ſet in […]1615, G[ervase] M[arkham], “[The Husbandmans Recreations: […].] Of Hawking with All Sorts of Hawkes, and of Coursing with Grey-hounds.”, in Countrey Contentments, in Two Bookes: The First, Containing...
2. (countable, dated) An act of riding or walking in the open air for exercise or leisure.
  - According to this my vvarrant heere, I muſt this morning fetch my priſoner to ayring, hee had need bee hung out, leaſt his fleſh ſhould mould, for I am ſure, his clothes are muſtie already; […]1607, [John Day, William Rowley, George Wilkins], The Travailes of the Three English Brothers. Sir Thomas Shirley. Sir Anthony Shirley. Mr. Robert Shirley. […], London: […] [George Eld] for Iohn...
  - Hovv do you like / Your ayring? is it not a fauour?1629 (first performance), Philip Massinger, The Picture. A Tragecomedie, […], London: […] I[ohn] N[orton] for Thomas Walkley […], published 1630, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, signature M, recto
(countable, figuratively) An act of broadcasting a radio or television show; a broadcasting.
- Seldom was he [Sanford Clark] seen, and almost never were his recordings given mass airings.1990, Wayne Jancik, “The Fifties”, in Fred Weiler, editor, The Billboard Book of One-hit Wonders, New York, N.Y.: Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, →ISBN, page 21, column 1
(figuratively, uncountable) Public disclosure or discussion of a subject, or expression of an opinion; (countable) an instance of this.
- airing of grievances
- I really felt that I was justified in giving my irritability an airing by curious allusions to Janet; yet, though I made him wince, it was impossible to touch his conscience.1870 September – 1871 November, George Meredith, “An Expedition”, in The Adventures of Harry Richmond. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], published 1871, →OCLC, page 166

Also used as

airing is also the present participle and gerund of air.

airing meaning in Persian

airing in Persian

exposure of something to the air, especially fresh or warm air for the purpose of ventilating or drying; an instance of this: گردش

Examples of airing in a sentence

Their Fleet, […] is novv reduc'd to Six Gallies. […] This little Fleet ſerves only to fetch 'em VVine and Corn, and to give their Ladies an Airing in the Summer ſeaſon.1705, J[oseph] Addison, “Monaco, Genoa, &c.”, in Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob...
[…] I hope you have had a pleasant airing?1803 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter IX, in Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume I, London...
An airing would do me a great deal of good, I am sure.1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton...
When I returned to the carriage, as my father had desired me to take an airing, I thought I might as well have a companion, so I directed them to drive to Mr.1835–1836, [Frederick Marryat], chapter XIX, in Japhet, in Search of a Father. […], Franklin Library edition, New York, N.Y.: Wallis &...

All 10 example sentences with airing

Forms of airing

plural	airings

Plural of airing: airings

Origin of airing

From air (“substance constituting Earth’s atmosphere”, noun) and air (“to bring (something) into contact with the air; to let fresh air into (a place); to make public (an opinion, etc.); to broadcast (something)”, verb) + -ing (suffix forming nouns or noun-like terms from verbs, denoting acts of doing something, actions, or the embodiment of action; and forming the present participles of verbs).

Words formed from airing

airing cupboard

Phrases with airing

Words that rhyme with airing

6 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about airing

What does airing mean?: Airing means exposure of something to the air, especially fresh or warm air for the purpose of ventilating or drying; (countable) an instance of this.
What is airing in Persian?: Airing in Persian is گردش. See Airing meaning in Persian.
How do you use airing in a sentence?: Their Fleet, […] is novv reduc'd to Six Gallies. […] This little Fleet ſerves only to fetch 'em VVine and Corn, and to give their Ladies an Airing in the Summer ſeaſon.
What part of speech is airing?: Airing is a noun.
How do you pronounce airing?: Airing is pronounced /ˈɛəɹɪŋ/ (UK).
What is the plural of airing?: The plural of airing is airings.

Words near airing in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: airing (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-airing.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-airing.wav.

Cite this entry: “airing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/airing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.