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Symbolically: Something unsubstantial, light, or volatile. "Charm ache with air." Shak. He was still all air and fire. Macaulay . [Air and fire being the finer and quicker elements as opposed to earth and water.]

A sack or matters inflated with air, and used as a bed.

An air sac, sometimes double or variously lobed, in the visceral cavity of many fishes. It originates in the same way as the lungs of air-breathing vertebrates, and in the adult may retain a tubular connection with the pharynx or esophagus.

A railway brake operated by condensed air. Knight.

A kind of atomizer for applying liquid coloring matter in a spray by compressed air.

A cavity in the cellular tissue of plants, containing air only.

A chamber or cavity filled with air, in an animal or plant.

A faucet to allow escape of air.

rface by means of ribs or radiators, and placing it so that it is exposed to a current of air. Cf. Water cooling. -- Air"-cooled`, a.

A drill driven by the elastic pressure of condensed air; a pneumatic drill. Knight.

An engine driven by heated or by compressed air. Knight.

An air-filled gap in a magnetic or electric circuit; specif., in a dynamo or motor, the space between the field-magnet poles and the armature; clearance.

See under Gas.

A kind of gun in which the elastic force of condensed air is used to discharge the ball. The air is powerfully compressed into a reservoir attached to the gun, by a condensing pump, and is controlled by a valve actuated by the trigger.

A hole to admit or discharge air; specifically, a spot in the ice not frozen over.

A jacket having air-tight cells, or cavities which can be filled with air, to render persons buoyant in swimming.

Spirit level. See Level.

A path through the air made easy for aërial navigation by steady winds.

A pipe for the passage of air; esp. a ventilating pipe.

A plant deriving its sustenance from the air alone; an aërophyte.