aspiration

[ as-puh-rey-shuhn ]
/ ˌæs pəˈreɪ ʃən /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR aspiration ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a strong desire, longing, or aim; ambition: intellectual aspirations.
a goal or objective that is strongly desired: The presidency has been his aspiration since boyhood.
the act of aspirating or breathing in.
Phonetics.
  1. articulation accompanied by an audible puff of breath, as in the h-sound of how, or of when (hwen), or in the release of initial stops, as in the k-sound of key.
  2. the use of such a speech sound, or aspirate, in pronunciation.
Medicine/Medical.
  1. the act of removing a fluid, as pus or serum, from a cavity of the body, by a hollow needle or trocar connected with a suction syringe.
  2. the act of inhaling fluid or a foreign body into the bronchi and lungs, often after vomiting.

Origin of aspiration

1375–1425; late Middle English (< Middle French) < Latin aspīrātiōn- (stem of aspīrātiō). See aspirate, -ion

OTHER WORDS FROM aspiration

as·pi·ra·tion·al, adjective su·per·as·pi·ra·tion, noun

Words nearby aspiration

aspidistra, aspinwall, aspirant, aspirata, aspirate, aspiration, aspiration biopsy, aspiration pneumonia, aspirational, aspirator, aspiratory

Words related to aspiration

desire, longing, eagerness, wish, aim, yearning, passion, ambition, objective, endeavor, dream, inclination, urge, direction, work, hankering, ambitiousness, object, pursuit, push

Example sentences from the Web for aspiration

British Dictionary definitions for aspiration

aspiration
/ (ˌæspɪˈreɪʃən) /

noun

strong desire to achieve something, such as success
the aim of such desire
  1. the act of breathing
  2. a breath
phonetics
  1. the pronunciation of a stop with an audible and forceful release of breath
  2. the friction of the released breath
  3. an aspirated consonant
removal of air or fluid from a body cavity by suction
med
  1. the sucking of fluid or foreign matter into the air passages of the body
  2. the removal of air or fluid from the body by suction

Derived forms of aspiration

aspirational, adjective aspiratory (əˈspaɪrətərɪ, -trɪ, ˈæspɪrətərɪ, -trɪ), adjective

Medical definitions for aspiration

aspiration
[ ăs′pə-rā′shən ]

n.

The removal of a gas or fluid by suction.
The sucking of fluid or a foreign body into the airway when drawing breath.
A surgical technique used in the treatment of cataracts of the eye, in which an incision is made into the cornea, the lens capsule is severed, and the material of the lens is fragmented and aspirated by a needle.