Word.ws English Dictionary

on air

on air prepositional phrase: broadcasting or transmitting through the medium of radio or television.

Prepositional phrase

  1. Broadcasting or transmitting through the medium of radio or television.
    • Julie is on air now, presenting the weather forecast.
    • Channel 9 will be on air in a few minutes, giving a live broadcast.
    Synonyms:
    on the air
    Antonyms:
    off air
  2. Being, or so as to be, broadcast or transmitted by radio or television.
    • Don't interrupt while the program is on air.
    • This show isn't on air at the moment — it's only on in the summer.
  3. (figuratively) Smoothly; gracefully.
  4. (figuratively) Happily.
  5. Won with a high card though capturing only small cards.
  6. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see on, air.

on air meaning in Urdu and Arabic

on air in Urdu

broadcasting or transmitting
بَراہِ راسْت barāh-i rāst

on air in Arabic

broadcasting or transmitting
عَلَى الْمُبَاشِرِ ʕalā l-mubāširi

Examples of on air in a sentence

  • The transmitter remained on air all through the war.
  • The microphone was on air, and the whole country heard the outburst.
  • The popular television series was on air for ten years before it finally ended.
  • Was his interview on air?
  • We can't put this material on air.
  • It can get very hectic in the studio, especially when a news story breaks while we are on air.2003, Focus on Africa: BBC Magazine - Volumes 14-15, page 43:

Synonyms of on air

Antonyms

Forms of on air

alternative formon-air

Origin of on air

The broadcasting sense derives from the early use of radio, literally sending the transmission on the air waves.

Questions about on air

What does on air mean?
On air means broadcasting or transmitting through the medium of radio or television.
What is on air in Urdu?
On air in Urdu is بَراہِ راسْت (barāh-i rāst). See On air meaning in Urdu.
How do you use on air in a sentence?
The transmitter remained on air all through the war.
What part of speech is on air?
On air is a prepositional phrase.

Words near on air in the dictionary

  1. on account
  2. on account of
  3. on acid
  4. on again off again
  5. on again, off again
  6. on air
  7. on alert
  8. on all counts
  9. on all fours
  10. on all hands
  11. on all-fours

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on air (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-on air.wav.

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