AI -abbr

  1. ad interim
  2. airborne intercept
  3. air interception
  4. artificial insemination
  5. artificial intelligence

AIA -abbr

  1. American Institute of Architects

Ai·as ['ī-əs] -n

  1. ajax

ai·blins ['ā-blənz] -adv

  1. perhaps

aid ['ād] -vb, n

  1. to provide with what is useful or necessary in achieving an end
  2. to give assistance
  3. a subsidy granted to the king by the English parliament until the 18th century for an extraordinary purpose
  4. the act of helping
  5. help given : assistance
    • providing aid and comfort
  6. tangible means of assistance (as money or supplies)
  7. an assisting person or group
  8. something by which assistance is given : an assisting device
    • an aid to understanding
    • a visual aid
  9. hearing aid
  10. a tribute paid by a vassal to his lord

AID -abbr

  1. Agency for International Development
  2. artificial insemination by donor

aide ['ād] -n

  1. a person who acts as an assistant
  2. a military officer who acts as an assistant to a superior officer

aidedecamp [,ād-di-'kamp, -'käⁿ] -n

  1. a military aide
  2. a civilian aide usu. to an executive

aideme·moire [,ād-mām-'wär] -n

  1. an aid to the memory
  2. a mnemonic device
  3. a written summary or outline of important items of a proposed agreement or diplomatic communication

aid·man ['ād-,man] -n

  1. an army medical corpsman attached to a field unit

AIDS ['ādz] -n

  1. a disease of the human immune system that is characterized cytologically esp. by reduction in the numbers of CD4-bearing helper T cells to 20 percent or less of normal thereby rendering the subject highly vulnerable to life-threatening conditions (as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia) and to some (as Kaposi's sarcoma) that become life-threatening and that is caused by infection with HIV commonly transmitted in infected blood esp. during illicit intravenous drug use and in bodily secretions (as semen) during sexual intercourse

AIDSrelated complex -n

  1. a group of symptoms (as fever, weight loss, and lymphadenopathy) that is associated with the presence of antibodies to HIV and is followed by the development of AIDS in a certain proportion of cases

AIDS virus -n

  1. hiv

ai·grette [ā-'gret, 'ā-,] -n

  1. a spray of feathers (as of the egret) for the head
  2. a spray of gems worn on a hat or in the hair

ai·guille [ā-'gwēl, -'gwē] -n

  1. a sharp-pointed pinnacle of rock

ai·guil·lette [,ā-gwi-'let] -n

  1. aglet
  2. a shoulder cord worn by designated military aides

ai·ki·do [,ī-ki-'dō, ī-'kē-(,)dō] -n

  1. a Japanese art of self-defense employing locks and holds and utilizing the principle of nonresistance to cause an opponent's own momentum to work against him

ail ['āl] -vb

  1. to give physical or emotional pain, discomfort, or trouble to
  2. to have something the matter
  3. to suffer ill health
  4. ailment

ai·lan·thus [ā-'lan(t)-thəs] -n

  1. any of a small Asian genus ( Ailanthusof the family Simaroubaceae, the ailanthus family) of chiefly tropical trees and shrubs with bitter bark, pinnate leaves, and terminal panicles of ill-scented greenish flowers
  2. tree of heaven

ai·le·ron ['ā-lə-,rän] -n

  1. a movable airfoil at the trailing edge of an airplane wing that is used for imparting a rolling motion esp. in banking for turns

ail·ment ['āl-mənt] -n

  1. a bodily disorder or chronic disease
  2. unrest, uneasiness

ai·lu·ro·phile [ī-'lu̇r-ə-,fī(-ə)l, ā-] -n

  1. a cat fancier : a lover of cats

ai·lu·ro·phobe [-,fōb] -n

  1. a person who hates or fears cats

aim ['ām] -vb

  1. to direct a course
  2. to point a weapon at an object
  3. aspire, intend
    • aim s to reform the government
  4. guess, conjecture
  5. point
    • aim a gun
  6. to direct to or toward a specified object or goal
    • a program aim ed at reducing pollution
  7. mark, target
  8. the pointing of a weapon at a mark
    • take careful aim
  9. the ability to hit a target
    • a shooter with good aim
  10. a weapon's accuracy or effectiveness
    • the gun's aim is off
  11. conjecture, guess
  12. the directing of effort toward a goal
  13. a clearly directed intent or purpose
    • our aim is to win

AIM -abbr

  1. American Indian Movement

ain ['ān] -adj

  1. own

ain't ['ānt]

  1. am not : are not : is not
  2. have not : has not
  3. do not : does not : did not used in some varieties of Black English

Ai·nu ['ī-(,)nü] -n

  1. a member of an indigenous people of the Japanese archipelago, the Kuril Islands, and part of Sakhalin Island
  2. the language of the Ainu people

ai·o·li [(,)ī-'ō-lē, (,)ā-] -n

  1. a mayonnaise flavored with garlic and sometimes other ingredients (as red pepper)

air ['er] -n, adj

  1. breath
  2. the mixture of invisible odorless tasteless gases (as nitrogen and oxygen) that surrounds the earth
  3. a light breeze
  4. empty space
  5. nothingness
    • vanished into thin air
  6. a sudden severance of relations
    • she gave me the air
  7. tune, melody
  8. an accompanied song or melody in usu. strophic form
  9. the chief voice part or melody in choral music
  10. outward appearance of a thing
    • an air of luxury
  11. a surrounding or pervading influence : atmosphere
    • an air of mystery
  12. the look, appearance, or bearing of a person esp. as expressive of some personal quality or emotion : demeanor
    • an air of dignity
  13. an artificial or affected manner
    • put on air s
  14. public utterance
    • he gave air to his opinion
  15. compressed air
  16. aircraft
    • go by air
  17. aviation
    • air safety
    • air rights
  18. air force
    • air headquarters
  19. the medium of transmission of radio waves
  20. radio, television
    • went on the air
  21. airtime
  22. a football offense utilizing primarily the forward pass
    • trailing by 20 points, the team took to the air
  23. an air-conditioning system
  24. the height achieved in performing an aerial maneuver
    • a snowboarder catching big air
  25. the maneuver itself
  26. to expose to the air for drying, purifying, or refreshing : ventilate often used with out
  27. to expose to public view or bring to public notice
  28. to transmit by radio or television
    • air a program
  29. to become exposed to the open air
  30. to become broadcast
    • the program air s daily

air bag -n

  1. an automobile safety device consisting of a bag designed to inflate automatically esp. in front of an occupant in case of collision

air ball -n

  1. a missed shot in basketball that fails to touch the rim and backboard

air base -n

  1. a military base chiefly for the operation of aircraft

air bladder -n

  1. a sac containing gas and esp. air
  2. a hydrostatic organ present in most fishes that serves as an accessory respiratory organ

air·boat ['er-,bōt] -n

  1. a shallow-draft boat driven by an airplane propeller and steered by an airplane rudder

air·borne [-,bȯrn] -adj

  1. : done or being in the air : being off the ground: as
  2. carried through the air (as by an aircraft)
  3. supported esp. by aerodynamic forces or propelled through the air by force
  4. transported or carried by the air
    • airborne allergens
  5. trained for deployment by air and esp. by parachute
    • airborne troops

air brake -n

  1. a brake operated by a piston driven by compressed air
  2. a surface that may be projected into the airstream for increasing drag and lowering the speed of an airplane

airbreath·ing ['er-,brē-th] -adj

  1. of, employing, or being an engine that requires air for combustion

air·brush [-,brəsh] -n

  1. an atomizer for applying by compressed air a fine spray (as of paint or liquid color)

airbrush -vt

  1. to paint, treat, or alter (as to conceal imperfections) with or as if with an airbrush
    • airbrush a photograph

air·burst [-,bərst] -n

  1. the burst of a shell or bomb in the air

air·bus [-,bəs] -n

  1. a short-range or medium-range subsonic jet passenger airplane

air chief marshal -n

  1. a commissioned officer in the British air force who ranks with a general in the army

air commodore -n

  1. a commissioned officer in the British air force who ranks with a brigadier in the army

aircon·di·tion [,er-kən-'di-shən] -vt, n

  1. to equip (as a building) with an apparatus for washing air and controlling its humidity and temperature
  2. to subject (air) to these processes

air·craft ['er-,kraft] -n

  1. a vehicle (as an airplane or balloon) for traveling through the air

aircraft carrier -n

  1. a warship with a flight deck on which aircraft can be launched and landed

air·crew ['er-,krü] -n

  1. the crew manning an airplane

aircush·ion vehicle -n

  1. hovercraft

air dam -n

  1. a device attached to the underside of the front of an automobile to improve stability, aerodynamic performance, and engine cooling by redirecting the flow of air

air·date [-,dāt] -n

  1. the scheduled date of a broadcast

air·drome ['er-,drōm] -n

  1. airport

air·drop [-,dräp] -n, vt, adj

  1. delivery of cargo, emergency supplies, or personnel by parachute from an airplane in flight

airdry [-'drī] -adj

  1. dry to such a degree that no further moisture is given up on exposure to air
  2. to dry by exposure to air
  3. to become dry by exposure to air

Aire·dale terrier ['er-,dāl-] -n

  1. any of a breed of large terriers with a hard, wiry, black-and-tan coat called also Airedale

air·er ['er-ər] -n

  1. a frame on which clothes are aired or dried

air·fare ['er-,fer] -n

  1. fare for travel by airplane

air·field [-,fēld] -n

  1. : an area of land from which aircraft operate: as
  2. airport
  3. air base

air·flow [-,flō] -n

  1. a flow of air
  2. the motion of air (as around parts of an airplane in flight) relative to the surface of a body immersed in it

air·foil [-,fȯi(-ə)l] -n

  1. a body (as an airplane wing or propeller blade) designed to provide a desired reaction force when in motion relative to the surrounding air

air force -n

  1. the military organization of a nation for air warfare
  2. a unit of the U.S. Air Force higher than a division and lower than a command

air·frame [-,frām] -n

  1. the structure of an aircraft, rocket vehicle, or missile without the power plant
  2. aircraft

air·freight [-'frāt] -n, vt

  1. freight transport by air in volume
  2. the charge for this service

air·glow [-,glō] -n

  1. light that is observed esp. during the night, that originates in the high atmosphere of a planet (as the earth), and that is associated with photochemical reactions of gases caused by solar radiation

air guitar -n

  1. an imaginary guitar that one pretends to play
  2. the action of playing air guitar

air gun -n

  1. a gun from which a projectile is propelled by compressed air
  2. any of various hand tools that work by compressed air
  3. airbrush

air·head [-,hed] -n

  1. an area in hostile territory secured usu. by airborne troops for further use in bringing in troops and materiel by air

airhead [-,he-dəd] -n, adj

  1. a mindless or stupid person

air·hole [-,hōl] -n

  1. a hole to admit or discharge air

air·ing ['er-iŋ] -n

  1. exposure to air or heat for drying or freshening
    • give the room an airing
  2. exposure to or exercise in the open air esp. to promote health or fitness
  3. exposure to public view or notice
  4. a radio or television broadcast

airkiss ['er-,kis] -vt, n

  1. to greet from a distance with a kissing motion of the lips

air lane -n

  1. a path customarily followed by airplanes

air letter -n

  1. an airmail letter
  2. a sheet of airmail stationery that can be folded and sealed with the message inside and the address outside

air·lift ['er-,lift] -n, vt

  1. a system of transporting cargo or passengers by aircraft often to or from an otherwise inaccessible area

air·line [-,līn] -n

  1. an air transportation system including its equipment, routes, operating personnel, and management

air line -n

  1. a straight line through the air between two points

air·lin·er [-,lī-nər] -n

  1. an airplane operated by an airline

air lock -n

  1. an intermediate chamber with two airtight doors or openings to permit passage between two dissimilar spaces (as two places of unequal atmospheric pressure)
  2. a stoppage of flow caused by air being in a part where liquid ought to circulate

air·mail ['er-,māl] -n, vt

  1. the system of transporting mail by aircraft
  2. the mail thus transported

air·man [-mən] -n

  1. a civilian or military pilot, aviator, or aviation technician
  2. : an enlisted man in the air force: as
  3. an enlisted man of one of the three ranks below sergeant
  4. an enlisted man ranking above an airman basic and below an airman first class

airman basic -n

  1. an enlisted man of the lowest rank in the air force

airman first class -n

  1. an enlisted man in the air force ranking above an airman and below a sergeant

air·man·ship ['er-mən-,ship] -n

  1. skill in piloting or navigating aircraft

air marshal -n

  1. a commissioned officer in the British air force who ranks with a lieutenant general in the army
  2. sky marshal

air mass -n

  1. a body of air extending hundreds or thousands of miles horizontally and sometimes as high as the stratosphere and maintaining as it travels nearly uniform conditions of temperature and humidity at any given level

air mattress -n

  1. mattress

Air Medal -n

  1. a U.S. military decoration awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in an aerial flight

air mile -n

  1. a mile in air travel

airmind·ed ['er-'mīn-dəd] -adj, n

  1. interested in aviation or in air travel

air·mo·bile [-,mō-bəl, -,bēl, -,bī(-ə)l] -adj

  1. of, relating to, or being a military unit whose members are transported to combat areas usu. by helicopter

air·park [-,pärk] -n

  1. a small airport usu. located near an industrial area

air piracy -n

  1. the hijacking of a flying airplane : skyjacking

air·plane ['er-,plān] -n

  1. a powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings from which it derives most of its lift

air plant -n

  1. epiphyte
  2. any of several kalanchoes (esp. Kalanchoe pinnata)

air·play [-,plā] -n

  1. the playing of a musical recording on the air by a radio station
    • a song getting a lot of airplay

air pocket -n

  1. a condition of the atmosphere (as a local downdraft) that causes an airplane to drop suddenly

air police -n

  1. the military police of an air force

air·port ['er-,pȯrt] -n

  1. a place from which aircraft operate that usu. has paved runways and maintenance facilities and often serves as a terminal

air·post [-'pōst] -n

  1. airmail

air·pow·er [-,pau̇(-ə)r] -n

  1. the military strength of a nation's air force

air pump -n

  1. a pump for exhausting air from a closed space or for compressing air or forcing it through other apparatus

air quotes -n pl

  1. a gesture made by raising and flexing the index and middle fingers of both hands that is used to call attention to a spoken word or expression

air rage -n

  1. an airline passenger's uncontrolled anger that is usu. expressed in aggressive or violent behavior

air raid -n

  1. an attack by armed airplanes on a surface target usu. hyphenated when used attributively
    • air-raid shelter

air rifle -n

  1. a rifle whose projectile (as a BB or pellet) is propelled by compressed air or carbon dioxide

air right -n

  1. a property right to the space above a surface area or object

air sac -n

  1. one of the air-filled spaces in the body of a bird connected with the air passages of the lungs
  2. alveolus
  3. a thin-walled dilation of a trachea occurring in many insects

air·screw ['er-,skrü] -n

  1. an airplane propeller

air·ship [-,ship] -n

  1. a lighter-than-air aircraft having propulsion and steering systems

air show -n

  1. an exhibition of aircraft and aviation skills

air·sick [-,sik] -adj, n

  1. affected with motion sickness associated with flying

air·space [-,spās] -n

  1. the space lying above the earth or above a certain area of land or water
  2. the space lying above a nation and coming under its jurisdiction

air·speed [-,spēd] -n

  1. the speed (as of an airplane) with relation to the air

air·stream [-,strēm] -n

  1. a current of air
  2. airflow

air·strip [-,strip] -n

  1. a runway without normal air base or airport facilities

airt ['ārt, 'ert] -n

  1. compass point : direction
  2. direct, guide

air taxi -n

  1. a small commercial airplane used for short flights between localities not served by scheduled airlines

air·tight ['er-,tīt] -adj, n

  1. impermeable to air or nearly so
    • an airtight seal
  2. having no noticeable weakness, flaw, or loophole
    • an airtight argument
  3. permitting no opportunity for an opponent to score
    • an airtight defense

air·time [-,tīm] -n

  1. the time at which a radio or television broadcast is scheduled to begin
  2. the time or any part thereof that a radio or television station is on the air

airtoair [,er-tə-'(w)er] -adj

  1. launched from one airplane in flight at another
    • airtoair missiles
  2. involving aircraft in flight
    • airtoair combat

air vicemarshal -n

  1. a commissioned officer in the British air force who ranks with a major general in the army

air·wave ['er-,wāv] -adj

  1. of, created for, or heard on the airwaves

air·waves [-,wāvz] -n pl

  1. the medium of radio and television transmission not used technically

air·way [-,wā] -n

  1. a passage for a current of air (as in a mine or to the lungs)
  2. a designated route along which airplanes fly from airport to airport
  3. such a route equipped with navigational aids
  4. airline
  5. a channel of a designated radio frequency for broadcasting or other radio communication

air·wor·thy [-,wər-thē] -adj, n

  1. fit for operation in the air
    • an airworthy airplane

airy ['er-ē] -adj, adv, n

  1. of or relating to air : atmospheric
  2. high in the air : lofty
    • airy perches
  3. performed in air : aerial
    • airy leaps
  4. unreal, illusory
    • airy romances
  5. being light and graceful in movement or manner : sprightly, vivacious
    • an airy dance
  6. exceptionally light, delicate, or refined
    • an airy fragrance
  7. open to the free circulation of air
    • an airy room
  8. having openings or spaces
    • airy lacework
  9. affected, proud
    • airy condescension

airyfairy [-'fer-ē] -adj

  1. delicate, fairylike
  2. lacking substance or purpose
    • in...an airyfairy, unserious, insufficiently careful fashion -- Times Lit. Supp.

aisle ['ī(-ə)l] -n

  1. the side of a church nave separated by piers from the nave proper
  2. a passage (as in a theater or railroad passenger car) separating sections of seats
  3. such a passage regarded as separating opposing parties in a legislature
    • supported by members on both sides of the aisle
  4. a passage (as in a store or warehouse) for inside traffic

aisle·way [-,wā] -n

  1. aisle

ait ['āt] -n

  1. a little island

aitch ['āch] -n

  1. the letter h

aitch·bone ['āch-,bōn] -n

  1. the hipbone esp. of cattle
  2. the cut of beef containing the aitchbone