ventilate

verb ven·ti·late \ ˈven-tə-ˌlāt \

|Updated on: 14 Jul 2018

Examples: ventilate in a Sentence

Definition of ventilate

ventilated; ventilating

transitive verb

1 a : to expose to air and especially to a current of fresh air for purifying, curing, or refreshing

ventilate stored grain

; also : oxygenate, aerate

ventilate blood in the lungs

b : to subject the lungs to ventilation

artificially ventilate a patient in respiratory distress

2 a : to examine, discuss, or investigate freely and openly : expose

ventilating family quarrels in public

b : to make public : utter

ventilated their objections at length

3 a of a current of air : to pass or circulate through so as to freshen

b : to cause fresh air to circulate through (a place, such as a room or a mine)

4 : to provide an opening in (a burning structure) to permit escape of smoke and heat

5 archaic : to free from chaff by winnowing

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Examples of ventilate in a Sentence

She opened the windows to ventilate the room.
The room was adequately ventilated.

Recent Examples of ventilate from the Web

Alternatively, ventilate the fire with a fan or a hair dryer.

— steven raichlen, New York Times, "Grilling Turns Back to an Ancient Fuel: Wood," 29 June 2018
The whole symmetrical stadium will be naturally ventilated, eliminating the need for air conditioning.

— aimee berg, USA TODAY, "U.S. Open's second covered stadium should help with weather delays, boost attendance," 17 May 2018
Thermosyphons are narrow tubes that passively pull heat from the ground and ventilate it up into the air—keeping the heat away from the permafrost.

— melody schreiber, WIRED, "The Race to Save Arctic Cities As Permafrost Melts," 14 May 2018
The entire school was evacuated so that Westview — Station 13 of the Baltimore County Fire Department could ventilate the building, Kemp said.

— talia richman, baltimoresun.com, "Fight involving pepper spray breaks out inside Woodlawn High School; 2 students arrested," 12 June 2018
Grace saves the Man in Black WL: Meanwhile, the Man in Black/William appears to be clinging to life after his body was ventilated by gunfire last week.

— william lee, chicagotribune.com, "‘Westworld’ Episode 8 recap: 5 things to know about ‘Kiksuya’," 11 June 2018
The bucket seats in the Touring model (heated and ventilated) are comfortably bolstered with a 12-way power adjustable driver’s seat — but just a four-way front passenger seat, with no height adjustment.

— mark maynard, sandiegouniontribune.com, "2018 Honda Accord 2.0T: Near perfect, in an imperfect world," 1 June 2018
There was no fire and the unit was ventilated by the Fire Department.

— julie a. short/special to cleveland.com, cleveland.com, "Resident leaves apartment, forgets food still cooking on stove: Rocky River Police Blotter," 5 May 2018
The 2018 versions drop a quarter of a pound, thanks to a new lightweight aluminum frame and redesigned ventilated back panel.

— Outside Online, "The Best Summer Packs of 2018," 15 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ventilate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ventilate

Middle English, "discussed, aired," borrowed from Latin ventilātus, past participle of ventilāre "to expose to the air, fan, expose to consideration," from ventus "wind" + -ilāre, verbal suffix, variant of -ulāre originally in derivatives of nouns ending in -ulus, -ula, -ulum -ule — more at ¹wind

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 2a

See Words from the same year