What does "aspirate" mean?
The puff of air accompanying the release of a plosive or fricative consonant.
Aspirate
/ˈæs.pə.ɹeɪt/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The puff of air accompanying the release of a plosive or fricative consonant.
- Grammar: aspirate is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: aspirated consonant, aspirated sound, aspirating, breathe.
- Useful contrasts: expel, fill, inject.
- Usage evidence: In Finnish, you don't aspirate the consonants k, p, and t.
How to use "aspirate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "aspirate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "aspirate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "aspirate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "aspirate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "aspirate" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "aspirated consonant" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "aspirate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The puff of air accompanying the release of a plosive or fricative consonant.
- 2 a consonant pronounced with aspiration wordnet
- 3 A sound produced by such a puff of air.
"We now come to the so-called aspirate [h], which must be also classified as a fricative consonant."
- 4 a speech sound having as an obvious concomitant an audible puff of breath, as initial stop consonants or initial /h/ sounds. wordnet
- 5 A mark of aspiration (ʽ) used in Greek; the asper, or rough breathing.
"a. 1742, Richard Bentley, letter to Dr. Mead But we must correct then twenty authors who have it in the compound ἀπηθεῖν and ἀπήθημα ; and not (as the aspirate would require it) ἀφηθεῖν and αφήθημα"
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A sample of fluid, tissue, or other substance that is withdrawn via aspiration (usually through a hollow needle) from a body cavity, cyst, or tumor.
Verb
- 1 To remove a liquid or gas by means of suction. transitive
"Scrape cells using a cell scraper and aspirate the resulting slurry into a 2.0-mL Eppendorf tube."
- 2 inhale (air, water, etc.) wordnet
- 3 To inhale something other than air into one's lungs. transitive
- 4 pronounce with aspiration; of stop sounds wordnet
- 5 To suffocate, having inhaled something other than air. intransitive
"The autopsy found that the casualty had aspirated in her sleep."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 remove by suction wordnet
- 7 To produce an audible puff of breath, especially following a consonant, such as the letter "h" at the beginning of house or hat in standard English. ambitransitive
"There is no doubt that the uncertainty about the letter H, which much defaces English in some classes of the community, is due entirely to Norman influence, for Frenchmen could not aspirate. Three words—hour, honor, heir, with compounds of them such as hourly, honourable, heirship, and the like, are quite enough to puzzle people who find H sometimes sounded, sometimes not."
Adjective
- 1 Synonym of aspirated.
"[…]and there was in Late Middle Bengali a tendency to drop aspiration of non-initial aspirate stops."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"In Finnish, you don't aspirate the consonants k, p, and t."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "aspirate"?
Common synonyms include: aspirated consonant, aspirated sound, aspirating, breathe, breathe in, coo.
How do you use "aspirate" in a sentence?
In Finnish, you don't aspirate the consonants k, p, and t.
How do you pronounce "aspirate"?
Pronounced /ˈæs.pə.ɹeɪt/.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin aspīrātus.