What is "to take air"

Take \Take\, v. t. [imp. Took (t[oo^]k); p. p. Taken (t[=a]k'n); p. pr. & vb. n. Taking.] [Icel. taka; akin to Sw. taga, Dan. tage, Goth. t[=e]kan to touch; of uncertain origin.]

1. In an active sense; To lay hold of; to seize with the hands, or otherwise; to grasp; to get into one's hold or possession; to procure; to seize and carry away; to convey. Hence, specifically:

   1. To obtain possession of by force or artifice; to get the custody or control of; to reduce into subjection to one's power or will; to capture; to seize; to make prisoner; as, to take an army, a city, or a ship; also, to come upon or befall; to fasten on; to attack; to seize; -- said of a disease, misfortune, or the like.

      This man was taken of the Jews.
      --Acts xxiii. 27.

      Men in their loose, unguarded hours they take; Not that themselves are wise, but others weak.
      --Pope.

      They that come abroad after these showers are commonly taken with sickness.
      --Bacon.

      There he blasts the tree and takes the cattle And makes milch kine yield blood.
      --Shak.

   2. To gain or secure the interest or affection of; to captivate; to engage; to interest; to charm.

      Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
      --Prov. vi. 25.

      Cleombroutus was so taken with this prospect, that he had no patience.
      --Wake.

      I know not why, but there was a something in those half-seen features, -- a charm in the very shadow that hung over their imagined beauty, -- which took me more than all the outshining loveliness of her companions.
      --Moore.

   3. To make selection of; to choose; also, to turn to; to have recourse to; as, to take the road to the right.

      Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken.
      --1 Sam. xiv. 4

2. The violence of storming is the course which God is forced to take for the destroying . . . of sinners. --Hammond. (d) To employ; to use; to occupy; hence, to demand; to require; as, it takes so much cloth to make a coat; it takes five hours to get to Boston from New York by car. This man always takes time . . . before he passes his judgments. --I. Watts. (e) To form a likeness of; to copy; to delineate; to picture; as, to take a picture of a person. Beauty alone could beauty take so right. --Dryden. (f) To draw; to deduce; to derive. [R.] The firm belief of a future judgment is the most forcible motive to a good life, because taken from this consideration of the most lasting happiness and misery. --Tillotson. (g) To assume; to adopt; to acquire, as shape; to permit to one's self; to indulge or engage in; to yield to; to have or feel; to enjoy or experience, as rest, revenge, delight, shame; to form and adopt, as a resolution; -- used in general senses, limited by a following complement, in many idiomatic phrases; as, to take a resolution; I take the liberty to say. (h) To lead; to conduct; as, to take a child to church. (i) To carry; to convey; to deliver to another; to hand over; as, he took the book to the bindery; he took a dictionary with him. He took me certain gold, I wot it well. --Chaucer. (k) To remove; to withdraw; to deduct; -- with from; as, to take the breath from one; to take two from four. 2. In a somewhat passive sense, to receive; to bear; to endure; to acknowledge; to accept. Specifically: (a) To accept, as something offered; to receive; not to refuse or reject; to admit. Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer. --Num. xxxv. 3

   1. Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore.
      --1 Tim. v. 10. (b) To receive as something to be eaten or drunk; to partake of; to swallow; as, to take food or wine. (c) Not to refuse or balk at; to undertake readily; to clear; as, to take a hedge or fence. (d) To bear without ill humor or resentment; to submit to; to tolerate; to endure; as, to take a joke; he will take an affront from no man. (e) To admit, as, something presented to the mind; not to dispute; to allow; to accept; to receive in thought; to entertain in opinion; to understand; to interpret; to regard or look upon; to consider; to suppose; as, to take a thing for granted; this I take to be man's motive; to take men for spies.

      You take me right.
      --Bacon.

      Charity, taken in its largest extent, is nothing else but the science love of God and our neighbor.
      --Wake.

      [He] took that for virtue and affection which was nothing but vice in a disguise.
      --South.

      You'd doubt his sex, and take him for a girl.
      --Tate. (f) To accept the word or offer of; to receive and accept; to bear; to submit to; to enter into agreement with; -- used in general senses; as, to take a form or shape.

      I take thee at thy word.
      --Rowe.

      Yet thy moist clay is pliant to command; . . . Not take the mold.
      --Dryden.

3. To make a picture, photograph, or the like, of; as, to take a group or a scene. [Colloq.]

4. To give or deliver (a blow to); to strike; hit; as, he took me in the face; he took me a blow on the head. [Obs. exc. Slang or Dial.] To be taken aback, To take advantage of, To take air, etc. See under Aback, Advantage, etc. To take aim, to direct the eye or weapon; to aim. To take along, to carry, lead, or convey. To take arms, to commence war or hostilities. To take away, to carry off; to remove; to cause deprivation of; to do away with; as, a bill for taking away the votes of bishops. ``By your own law, I take your life away.'' --Dryden. To take breath, to stop, as from labor, in order to breathe or rest; to recruit or refresh one's self. To take care, to exercise care or vigilance; to be solicitous. ``Doth God take care for oxen?'' --1 Cor. ix. 9. To take care of, to have the charge or care of; to care for; to superintend or oversee. To take down. (a) To reduce; to bring down, as from a high, or higher, place; as, to take down a book; hence, to bring lower; to depress; to abase or humble; as, to take down pride, or the proud. ``I never attempted to be impudent yet, that I was not taken down.'' --Goldsmith. (b) To swallow; as, to take down a potion. (c) To pull down; to pull to pieces; as, to take down a house or a scaffold. (d) To record; to write down; as, to take down a man's words at the time he utters them. To take effect, To take fire. See under Effect, and Fire. To take ground to the right or To take ground to the left (Mil.), to extend the line to the right or left; to move, as troops, to the right or left. To take heart, to gain confidence or courage; to be encouraged. To take heed, to be careful or cautious. ``Take heed what doom against yourself you give.'' --Dryden. To take heed to, to attend with care, as, take heed to thy ways. To take hold of, to seize; to fix on. To take horse, to mount and ride a horse. To take in. (a) To inclose; to fence. (b) To encompass or embrace; to comprise; to comprehend. (c) To draw into a smaller compass; to contract; to brail or furl; as, to take in sail. (d) To cheat; to circumvent; to gull; to deceive. (e) To admit; to receive; as, a leaky vessel will take in water. (f) To win by conquest. [Obs.] For now Troy's broad-wayed town He shall take in. --Chapman. (g) To receive into the mind or understanding. ``Some bright genius can take in a long train of propositions.'' --I. Watts. (h) To receive regularly, as a periodical work or newspaper; to take. [Eng.] To take in hand. See under Hand. To take in vain, to employ or utter as in an oath. ``Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.'' --Ex. xx. 7. To take issue. See under Issue. To take leave. See Leave, n., 2. To take a newspaper, magazine, or the like, to receive it regularly, as on paying the price of subscription. To take notice, to observe, or to observe with particular attention. To take notice of. See under Notice. To take oath, to swear with solemnity, or in a judicial manner. To take on, to assume; to take upon one's self; as, to take on a character or responsibility. To take one's own course, to act one's pleasure; to pursue the measures of one's own choice. To take order for. See under Order. To take order with, to check; to hinder; to repress. [Obs.] --Bacon. To take orders. (a) To receive directions or commands. (b) (Eccl.) To enter some grade of the ministry. See Order, n., 10. To take out. (a) To remove from within a place; to separate; to deduct. (b) To draw out; to remove; to clear or cleanse from; as, to take out a stain or spot from cloth. (c) To produce for one's self; as, to take out a patent. To take up. (a) To lift; to raise. --Hood. (b) To buy or borrow; as, to take up goods to a large amount; to take up money at the bank. (c) To begin; as, to take up a lamentation. --Ezek. xix.

   1. (d) To gather together; to bind up; to fasten or to replace; as, to take up raveled stitches; specifically (Surg.), to fasten with a ligature. (e) To engross; to employ; to occupy or fill; as, to take up the time; to take up a great deal of room. (f) To take permanently. ``Arnobius asserts that men of the finest parts . . . took up their rest in the Christian religion.'' --Addison. (g) To seize; to catch; to arrest; as, to take up a thief; to take up vagabonds. (h) To admit; to believe; to receive. [Obs.] The ancients took up experiments upon credit. --Bacon. (i) To answer by reproof; to reprimand; to berate. One of his relations took him up roundly. --L'Estrange. (k) To begin where another left off; to keep up in continuous succession. Soon as the evening shades prevail, The moon takes up the wondrous tale. --Addison. (l) To assume; to adopt as one's own; to carry on or manage; as, to take up the quarrels of our neighbors; to take up current opinions. ``They take up our old trade of conquering.'' --Dryden. (m) To comprise; to include. ``The noble poem of Palemon and Arcite . . . takes up seven years.'' --Dryden. (n) To receive, accept, or adopt for the purpose of assisting; to espouse the cause of; to favor. --Ps. xxvii. 10. (o) To collect; to exact, as a tax; to levy; as, to take up a contribution. ``Take up commodities upon our bills.'' --Shak. (p) To pay and receive; as, to take up a note at the bank. (q) (Mach.) To remove, as by an adjustment of parts; as, to take up lost motion, as in a bearing; also, to make tight, as by winding, or drawing; as, to take up slack thread in sewing. (r) To make up; to compose; to settle; as, to take up a quarrel. [Obs.] --Shak. To take up arms. Same as To take arms, above. To take upon one's self.

      1. To assume; to undertake; as, he takes upon himself to assert that the fact is capable of proof.

      2. To appropriate to one's self; to allow to be imputed to, or inflicted upon, one's self; as, to take upon one's self a punishment.

         To take up the gauntlet. See under Gauntlet.

Air \Air\ ([^a]r), n. [OE. air, eir, F. air, L. a["e]r, fr. Gr. 'ah`r, air, mist, for 'a[digamma]hr, fr. root 'a[digamma] to blow, breathe, probably akin to E. wind. In sense 10 the French has taking a meaning fr. It. aria atmosphere, air, fr. the same Latin word; and in senses 11, 12, 13 the French meaning is either fr. L. aria, or due to confusion with F. aire, in an older sense of origin, descent. Cf. A["e]ry, Debonair, Malaria, Wind.]

1. The fluid which we breathe, and which surrounds the earth; the atmosphere. It is invisible, inodorous, insipid, transparent, compressible, elastic, and ponderable.

   Note: By the ancient philosophers, air was regarded as an element; but modern science has shown that it is essentially a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, with a small amount of carbon dioxide, the average proportions being, by volume: oxygen, 20.96 per cent.; nitrogen, 79.00 per cent.; carbon dioxide, 0.04 per cent. These proportions are subject to a very slight variability. Air also always contains some vapor of water.

2. Symbolically: Something unsubstantial, light, or volatile. ``Charm ache with air.''
   --Shak.

   He was still all air and fire. [Air and fire being the finer and quicker elements as opposed to earth and water.]
   --Macaulay .

3. A particular state of the atmosphere, as respects heat, cold, moisture, etc., or as affecting the sensations; as, a smoky air, a damp air, the morning air, etc.

4. Any a["e]riform body; a gas; as, oxygen was formerly called vital air. [Obs.]

5. Air in motion; a light breeze; a gentle wind.

   Let vernal airs through trembling osiers play.
   --Pope.

6. Odoriferous or contaminated air.

7. That which surrounds and influences.

   The keen, the wholesome air of poverty.
   --Wordsworth.

8. Utterance abroad; publicity; vent.

   You gave it air before me.
   --Dryden.

9. Intelligence; information. [Obs.]
   --Bacon.

10. (Mus.)

    1. A musical idea, or motive, rhythmically developed in consecutive single tones, so as to form a symmetrical and balanced whole, which may be sung by a single voice to the stanzas of a hymn or song, or even to plain prose, or played upon an instrument; a melody; a tune; an aria.

    2. In harmonized chorals, psalmody, part songs, etc., the part which bears the tune or melody -- in modern harmony usually the upper part -- is sometimes called the air.

11. The peculiar look, appearance, and bearing of a person; mien; demeanor; as, the air of a youth; a heavy air; a lofty air. ``His very air.''
    --Shak.

12. Peculiar appearance; apparent character; semblance; manner; style. It was communicated with the air of a secret. --Pope. 12. pl. An artificial or affected manner; show of pride or vanity; haughtiness; as, it is said of a person, he puts on airs. --Thackeray. 14. (Paint.)

    1. The representation or reproduction of the effect of the atmospheric medium through which every object in nature is viewed.
       --New Am. Cyc.

    2. Carriage; attitude; action; movement; as, the head of that portrait has a good air. --Fairholt. 15. (Man.) The artificial motion or carriage of a horse. Note: Air is much used adjectively or as the first part of a compound term. In most cases it might be written indifferently, as a separate limiting word, or as the first element of the compound term, with or without the hyphen; as, air bladder, air-bladder, or airbladder; air cell, air-cell, or aircell; air-pump, or airpump. Air balloon. See Balloon. Air bath.

       1. An apparatus for the application of air to the body.

       2. An arrangement for drying substances in air of any desired temperature. Air castle. See Castle in the air, under Castle. Air compressor, a machine for compressing air to be used as a motive power. Air crossing, a passage for air in a mine. Air cushion, an air-tight cushion which can be inflated; also, a device for arresting motion without shock by confined air. Air fountain, a contrivance for producing a jet of water by the force of compressed air. Air furnace, a furnace which depends on a natural draft and not on blast. Air line, a straight line; a bee line. Hence Air-line, adj.; as, air-line road. Air lock (Hydr. Engin.), an intermediate chamber between the outer air and the compressed-air chamber of a pneumatic caisson. --Knight. Air port (Nav.), a scuttle or porthole in a ship to admit air. Air spring, a spring in which the elasticity of air is utilized. Air thermometer, a form of thermometer in which the contraction and expansion of air is made to measure changes of temperature. Air threads, gossamer. Air trap, a contrivance for shutting off foul air or gas from drains, sewers, etc.; a stench trap. Air trunk, a pipe or shaft for conducting foul or heated air from a room. Air valve, a valve to regulate the admission or egress of air; esp. a valve which opens inwardly in a steam boiler and allows air to enter. Air way, a passage for a current of air; as the air way of an air pump; an air way in a mine. In the air.

          1. Prevalent without traceable origin or authority, as rumors.

          2. Not in a fixed or stable position; unsettled.

    3. (Mil.) Unsupported and liable to be turned or taken in flank; as, the army had its wing in the air.

       on the air, currently transmitting; live; -- used of radio and television broadcasts, to indicate that the images and sounds being picked up by cameras and microphones are being broadcast at the present moment.

       Note: In call-in programs where individuals outside a radio or television studio have telephoned into the station, when their voice is being directly broadcast, the host of the program commonly states ``You're on the air.'' as a warning that the conversation is not private.

       To take air, to be divulged; to be made public.

       To take the air, to go abroad; to walk or ride out.