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n. 1. Forceful expression or release of pent-up thoughts or feelings: give vent to one's anger. 2. An opening permitting the escape of fumes, a liquid, a gas, or steam. 3. The small hole at the breech of a gun through which the charge is ignited. 4. Zoology The excretory opening of the digestive tract in animals such as birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. 5. Geology a. The opening of a volcano in the earth's crust. b. An opening on the ocean floor that emits hot water and dissolved minerals. v. vent·ed, vent·ing, vents v.tr. 1. To express (one's thoughts or feelings, for example), especially forcefully. See Synonyms at voice. 2. To release or discharge (steam, for example) through an opening. 3. To provide with a vent. v.intr. 1. To vent one's feelings or opinions: Sorry to go on like that, but I just had to vent. 2. To be released or discharged through an opening. 3. To rise to the surface of water to breathe. Used of a marine mammal. [Partly from French vent (from Old French) and partly alteration of French évent (from Old French esvent, from esventer, to let out air, from Vulgar Latin *exventāre : Latin ex-; see EX- + Latin ventus, wind; see wē- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).] venter n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. A slit in a garment, as in the back seam of a jacket. [Middle English vente, alteration (probably influenced by Old French vent, wind) of fente, from Old French, slit, from fendre, to split open, from Latin findere; see FISSION.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
