atmospheres

Noun

atmosphere (countable and uncountable, plural atmospheres)

1. The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body.
   • We may smile now to hear witchcraft spoken seriously of; but we forget perhaps that a belief in it is like a belief in the after appearance of the dead among the blue waters, the green graves, the still starry atmosphere and the great shadowy woods of our earth; […]1828, John Neal, chapter I, in Rachel Dyer: A North American Story, Portland, Me.: Shirley and Hyde, →OCLC, page 22
2. The air in a particular place.
   • The last hue of crimson had died away in the west, and the depth of the rich purple atmosphere was unbroken.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 2
3. (figuratively) The conditions (such as music, illumination, etc.) that can influence the mood felt in an environment.

   Synonyms:

   air, ambiance

4. (figuratively) The apparent mood felt in an environment.
   • The atmosphere for the football match was great.

   Synonyms:

   feeling, mood

5. A unit of measurement for pressure equal to 101325 Pa (symbol: atm), approximately the atmospheric pressure at sea level.
   • A process for preparing normally solid high molecular weight, hydrocarbon polymers which comprises heating and reacting carbon monoxide with hydrogen at a temperature of 125 ° to 350 °C, under a pressure of at least 30 atmospheres and in contact with a phosphomolybdic compound represented by the...1959, The Canadian Patent Office Record and Register of Copyrights, volume 87, page 6658
6. (uncountable) Extras in a scene who have no spoken lines.
   • Central Casting is in the business of extras, also known as atmosphere or background actors […]2006, Los Angeles Magazine, volume 51, number 2, page 100

See all 7 meanings of atmosphere