Idioms for air
Origin of air
1
1150–1200; Middle English
eir < Old French
air < Latin
āēr- (accusative
āerem) < Greek
āer- (stem of
āḗr) the lower atmosphere; conflated with
(especially for defs 4, 5) French
air, Old French
aire nature, character < Latin
ager field (cf.
acre) and
ārea threshing floor, clearing,
area; and with
(for def 7) French
air < Italian
aria
aria
SYNONYMS FOR air
OTHER WORDS FROM air
air·like, adjective un·aired, adjective well-aired, adjectiveWords nearby air
British Dictionary definitions for up in the air (1 of 3)
AIR
abbreviation for
All India Radio
British Dictionary definitions for up in the air (2 of 3)
air
/ (ɛə) /
noun
verb
See also
airs
Word Origin for air
C13: via Old French and Latin from Greek
aēr the lower atmosphere
British Dictionary definitions for up in the air (3 of 3)
Aïr
/ (ˈɑːɪə) /
noun
a mountainous region of N central Niger, in the Sahara, rising to 1500 m (5000 ft): a former native kingdom. Area: about 77 700 sq km (30 000 sq miles)
Also called: Azbine, Asben
Medical definitions for up in the air
air
[ âr ]
n.
A colorless, odorless, tasteless, gaseous mixture, approximately 78 percent nitrogen and approximately 21 percent oxygen with lesser amounts of argon, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, neon, helium, and other gases.
This mixture, with varying amounts of moisture and particulate matter, enveloping Earth; the atmosphere.
Any of various respiratory gases. No longer in technical use.
Scientific definitions for up in the air
air
[ âr ]
The colorless, odorless, tasteless mixture of gases that surrounds the Earth. Air consists of about 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen, with the remaining part made up mainly of argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, methane, and krypton in decreasing order of volume. Air also contains varying amounts of water vapor, particulate matter such as dust and soot, and chemical pollutants.
Idioms and Phrases with up in the air (1 of 2)
up in the air
Not settled, uncertain, as in The proposal to build a golf course next to the airport is still up in the air. This metaphoric expression likens something floating in the air to an unsettled matter. Put as in the air from the mid-1700s, it acquired up in the first half of the 1900s.
Idioms and Phrases with up in the air (2 of 2)
air