Air vs Play - What's the difference?
air | play |
(uncountable, historical, astrology, alchemy, science) The atmospheric substance above the surface of the earth which animals breathe, formerly considered to be a single substance, one of the four basic elements of ancient philosophy and one of the five basic elements of Eastern traditions.
(uncountable, physics, meteorology) That substance, now understood as the mixture of gases comprising the earth's atmosphere.
(usually, with the) The apparently open space above the ground; the mass of this substance around the earth.
A breeze; a gentle wind.
A feeling or sense.
* November 2 2014 , Daniel Taylor, "
* 1900 , , (The House Behind the Cedars) , Chapter I,
A sense of poise, graciousness, or quality.
* 1815 , (Jane Austen), (Emma) , :
(usually plural) Pretension]]; [[snobby, snobbishness; pretence that one is better than others.
* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
, chapter=1 (music) A song, especially a solo; an aria.
* 1813 , (Jane Austen), (Pride and Prejudice) , :
(informal) Nothing; absence of anything.
An air conditioner or the processed air it produces. Can be a mass noun or a count noun depending on context; similar to hair .
(obsolete, chemistry) Any specific gas.
(snowboarding, skateboarding, motor sports) A jump in which one becomes airborne.
To bring (something) into contact with the air, so as to freshen or dry it.
To let fresh air into a room or a building, to ventilate.
To discuss varying viewpoints on a given topic.
* 1917 , National Geographic , :
To broadcast, as with a television show.
(lb) To act in a manner such that one has fun; to engage in activities expressly for the purpose of recreation or entertainment.
:
*2001 , Annabelle Sabloff, Reordering the Natural World , Univ. of Toronto Press, p.83:
*:A youngstergo on vacation, play in the same way that he did with his friends, and so on.
*2003 , Anne-Nelly Perret-Clermont et al. (eds.), Joining Society: Social Interaction and Learning in Adolescence and Youth , Cambridge Univ. Press, p.52:
*:We had to play for an hour, so that meant that we didn't have time to play and joke around.
(lb) To perform in (a sport); to participate in (a game).
:
#(lb) To compete against, in a game.
#*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 12, work=BBC Sport
, title= (label) To take part in amorous activity; to make love, fornicate; to have sex.
*1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.iv:
*:Her proper face / I not descerned in that darkesome shade, / But weend it was my loue, with whom he playd .
(lb) To act as the indicated role, especially in a performance.
:
*{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= To produce music or theatre.
# To produce music.
#*2007 , Dan Erlewine, Guitar Player Repair Guide (ISBN 0879309210), page 220:
#*:If your guitar plays well on fretted strings but annoys you on the open ones, the nut's probably worn out.
# To produce music using a musical instrument.
#:
# To produce music (or a specified song or musical style) using (a specified musical instrument).
#:
# To use a device to watch or listen to the indicated recording.
#:
# to be shown.
#:
# To perform in or at; to give performances in or at.
#*2008 , My Life: From Normandy to Hockeytown (ISBN 0966412087), p.30:
#*:I got a hold of Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong's agent and I explained to him on the phone that, "I know you're playing' London on Wednesday night. Why don't you come and ' play the Arena in Windsor on Saturday night?"
#(lb) To act or perform (a play).
#:
(lb) To behave in a particular way.
#(lb) Contrary to fact, to give an appearance of being.
#*(rfdate) Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
#*:Thou canst play the rational if thou wilt.
#*1985 , Sharon S. Brehm, Intimate Relationships :
#*:Playing hard to get is not the same as slamming the door in someone's face.
#*1996 , Michael P. Malone, James J Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest :
#*:Now, surveying his final link, he had the nice advantage of being able to play coy with established port cities that desperately wanted his proven railroad.
#*2003 , John U. Ogbu, Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement , p.194:
#*:Instead, they played dumb, remained silent, and did their classwork.
#(lb) To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless.
#*(rfdate) Sir (1628–1699):
#*:Men are apt to play with their healths.
#(lb) To act; to behave; to practice deception.
#*(rfdate) (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616):
#*:His mother played false with a smith.
#(lb) To bring into sportive or wanton action; to exhibit in action; to execute.
#:
#*(rfdate) (John Milton) (1608-1674):
#*:Nature here / Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will / Her virgin fancies.
#*
#*:The Bat—they called him the Bat.. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.
(lb) To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate.
:
*(rfdate) (1671-1743):
*:The heart beats, the blood circulates, the lungs play .
*
*:The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it.
(lb) To move gaily; to disport.
*(rfdate) (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616):
*:even as the waving sedges play with wind
*(rfdate) (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719):
*:The setting sun / Plays on their shining arms and burnished helmets.
*(rfdate) (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744):
*:All fame is foreign but of true desert, / Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart.
(lb) To put in action or motion.
:
(lb) To keep in play, as a hooked fish, in order to land it.
Activity for amusement only, especially among the young.
* Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
(uncountable) Similar activity, in young animals, as they explore their environment and learn new skills.
(uncountable, ethology) "Repeated, incompletely functional behavior differing from more serious versions ..., and initiated voluntarily when ... in a low-stress setting."
The conduct, or course of a game.
(countable) An individual's performance in a sport or game.
(countable) (turn-based games ) An action carried out when it is one's turn to play.
(countable) A literary composition, intended to be represented by actors impersonating the characters and speaking the dialogue.
(countable) A theatrical performance featuring actors.
(countable) A major move by a business.
(countable) A geological formation that contains an accumulation or prospect of hydrocarbons or other resources.
(uncountable) The extent to which a part of a mechanism can move freely.
(uncountable, informal) Sexual role-playing.
* 1996 , Sabrina P Ramet, Gender reversals and gender cultures
* 1996 , "toptigger", (on Internet newsgroup alt.personals.spanking.punishment )
* 2013 , Rachel Kramer Bussel, Best Bondage Erotica 2014
* 2014 , Jiri T. Servant, Facts About Bondage - Bondage Guide For Beginners
(countable) A button that, when pressed, causes media to be played.
As nouns the difference between air and play
is that air is while play is activity for amusement only, especially among the young.As a verb play is
(lb) to act in a manner such that one has fun; to engage in activities expressly for the purpose of recreation or entertainment.air
English
Noun
Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United," guardian.co.uk
- Smalling’s quick one-two of yellow cards towards the end of the first half had left an air of inevitability about what would follow and, if anything, it was probably a surprise that City restricted themselves to Sergio Agüero’s goal bearing in mind another of United’s defenders, Marcos Rojo, was taken off on a stretcher early in the second half with a dislocated shoulder.
- The girl stooped to pluck a rose, and as she bent over it, her profile was clearly outlined. She held the flower to her face with a long-drawn inhalation, then went up the steps, crossed the piazza, opened the door without knocking, and entered the house with the air of one thoroughly at home.
- "He is very plain, undoubtedly--remarkably plain:--but that is nothing compared with his entire want of gentility. I had no right to expect much, and I did not expect much; but I had no idea that he could be so very clownish, so totally without air . I had imagined him, I confess, a degree or two nearer gentility."
citation, passage=He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.}}
- "If I," said Mr. Collins, "were so fortunate as to be able to sing, I should have great pleasure, I am sure, in obliging the company with an air ; for I consider music as a very innocent diversion, and perfectly compatible with the profession of a clergyman"
Synonyms
* * atmosphere * aura * nimbusDerived terms
* airbag * air base * air bed * airborne * air bounce * airbrake * airbrush * air bubble * airbus * air cargo * air carrier * air chamber * Air Chief Marshal * air cleaner * Air Commodore * air compressor * air-conditioned * air-conditioner * air-conditioning * air-cooled * air corridor * aircraft * aircrew * air cushion * air display * airdrome * airdrop * air duct * airfield * air flow * air force * airframe * air freight * air freshener * air guitar * airgun * air hole * air hostess * airing cupboard * air intake * air lane * airless * air letter * airlift * airline * airliner * airlock * airmail * airman * Air Marshal * air mattress * air navigation * air out * airplane * air pocket * airport * air pressure * air pump * air purifier * air quotes * air raid * air rifle * airscrew * air-sea rescue * air shaft * airshed * airship * air show * airsick * airsickness * air sign * airspace * airspeed * airstrike * airstrip * airsuit * air support * airtaxi * air terminal * airtight * air time * air-to-air * air-to-ground * air-to-surface * air traffic control * air traffic controller * air vent * Air Vice Marshal * airwaves * airway * airwoman * airworthiness * airworthy * airy * alkaline air * breath of fresh air * build castles in the air * catch air * castle in the air * clear the air * dead air * dephlogisticated air * fire air * fixed air * fluoro acid air * fresh air * get some air / take some air * give oneself airs * hepatic air * hot air * inflammable air * in the air * into thin air * mid-air * mephitic air * nitrous air * on air * on the air * phlogisticated air * pure air * put on airs * too many balls in the air * up in the air * vital air * vitriolic acid air (air)Verb
(en verb)- It's getting quite stuffy in this room: let's open the windows and air it.
- Thus, in spite of all opposition, the rural and urban assemblies retained the germ of local government, and in spite of the dual control, as the result of which much of their influence was nullified, they did have a certain value in airing abuses and suggesting improvements.
Statistics
*play
English
Verb
(en verb)International friendly: England 1-0 Spain, passage=England will not be catapulted among the favourites for Euro 2012 as a result of this win, but no victory against Spain is earned easily and it is right they take great heart from their efforts as they now prepare to play Sweden at Wembley on Tuesday.}}
Katrina G. Claw
Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm, volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.}}
Noun
- She was fond of all boys' plays , and greatly preferred cricket
- We saw a two-act play in the theatre.
- No wonder the fanbelt is slipping: there’s too much play in it.
- Too much play in a steering wheel may be dangerous.
- The rarity of male domination in fantasy play is readily explained.
- Palm Springs M seeks sane F 4 safe bdsm play
- There were none of the usual restrictions on public nudity or sexual interaction in the club environment. Still, the night was young, and as he'd made his way to the bar to order Mistress Ramona a gin and tonic, he'd seen little in the way of play .
- This type of play allows some people to relax and enjoy being given pleasure without having to think about giving pleasure back at the same time.