airing
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the act of letting fresh air into a room or onto clothes to make them clean and dry.
the exposure of a space or fabric to fresh air for the purpose of ventilation, freshening, or drying.
Simple“The guest bedroom smells a bit dusty and needs a good airing before they arrive.”
In context“After months in storage, the winter coats required a thorough airing in the garden to remove the lingering scent of mothballs.”
UsageOften used with the verb 'give'.
Synonymsventilationfreshening - 02 C1 Advanced
the act of making your ideas or complaints known to other people.
the public expression or disclosure of opinions, grievances, or ideas for the purpose of debate.
Simple“The meeting gave everyone a chance for an airing of their views on the new office rules.”
In context“The conference provided a necessary airing of controversial theories that had previously been confined to private academic circles.”
UsageCommonly appears in the phrase 'an airing of views' or 'an airing of grievances'.
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
the act of showing a programme on television or playing it on the radio.
the act of broadcasting a television or radio programme to an audience.
Simple“The documentary is getting its first airing on national television tonight.”
In context“Despite the film's critical success, it received only one late-night airing before being pulled from the schedule entirely.”
Synonyms
“William has never been able to forgive what he sees as Harry's public airing of the family fallout through his memoir Spare and their interview with Oprah Winfrey.”
“Backed by a live band, most of her new album gets an 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).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.