Aspirate


Phonetics.

to articulate (a speech sound, especially a stop) so as to produce an audible puff of breath, as with the first t of total, the second t being unaspirated.
to articulate (the beginning of a word or syllable) with an h -sound, as in which, pronounced (hwich), or hitch as opposed to witch or itch.

Medicine/Medical.

to remove (a fluid) from a body cavity by use of an or suction syringe.
to inhale (fluid or a foreign body) into the bronchi and lungs, often after vomiting.

to draw or remove by suction.
Phonetics. a speech sound having as an obvious concomitant an audible puff of breath, as initial stop consonants or initial h -sounds.
Medicine/Medical. the substance or contents that have been aspirated.
Phonetics. (of a speech sound) pronounced with or accompanied by ; aspirated.
Contemporary Examples

Bottle propping and speed-feeding gruel causes them to choke and aspirate their food—sometimes causing pneumonia and death.
Russia’s Adoption Ban Is Cruel and Vindictive to All Dr. Jane Aronson December 28, 2012

Some operate like bellows, creating an accordion-like sound as they aspirate.
How to Save Silent Movies: Inside New Jersey’s Cinema Paradiso Rich Goldstein October 1, 2014

Historical Examples

Take another similarly prepared pipette and aspirate into it equal volumes of washed cells, bacterial emulsion and pooled serum.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique John William Henry Eyre

The aspirate is rarely misplaced, unless by a recent immigrant.
The Quarterly Review, Volume 162, No. 324, April, 1886 Various

Sometimes the aspirate is transferred from the Adj. to the Conjunct.
Elements of Gaelic Grammar Alexander Stewart

Second, the aspirate (h as in have), which is generally condemned.
The Psychology of Singing David C. Taylor

“I shall be happy for one,” said Mrs. Clerihew, laying stress on the aspirate.
Brother Copas Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

“Monsieur Reetchie, you are my friend, my intimate” (he put an aspirate on the word).
The Crossing Winston Churchill

I am not familiar enough with the early grammarians to know when the terms lene and aspirate were first used.
The English Language Robert Gordon Latham

The aspirate, however, was too frequently omitted or misplaced.
Wenderholme Philip Gilbert Hamerton

verb (transitive) (ˈæspɪˌreɪt)
(phonetics)

to articulate (a stop) with some force, so that breath escapes with audible friction as the stop is released
to pronounce (a word or syllable) with an initial h

to draw in or remove by inhalation or suction, esp to suck (air or fluid) from a body cavity or to inhale (fluid) into the lungs after vomiting
to supply air to (an internal-combustion engine)
noun (ˈæspɪrɪt)
(phonetics)

a stop pronounced with an audible release of breath
the glottal fricative represented in English and several other languages as h

adjective (ˈæspɪrɪt)
(phonetics) (of a stop) pronounced with a forceful and audible expulsion of breath
n.

1725, “sound of the letter ‘H’,” especially at the beginning of a word, from Latin aspiratio “a breathing, exhalation, the pronunciation of the letter H” (see aspire).
v.

“to pronounce with audible breath,” 1700; perhaps a back-formation from aspiration (n.2), or from French aspirer (1520s), or directly from Latin aspiratus, past participle of aspirare (see aspire). Related: Aspirated; aspirating.

aspirate as·pi·rate (ās’pə-rāt’)
v. as·pi·rat·ed, as·pi·rat·ing, as·pi·rates
To take in or remove by aspiration. n. (-pər-ĭt)
A substance removed by aspiration.

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