aerate

/ˌɛˈreɪt/

/ˈɛreɪt/

Other forms: aerated; aerating; aerates

To aerate something is to put air into it. When a pastry chef whips cream, she aerates it, filling it with air until it's light and fluffy.

Gardeners sometimes aerate soil with special spikes, allowing air to penetrate the surface and helping lawns or plants get more oxygen. If you aerate water or juice, you carbonate it, resulting in a fizzy soda. Cooking, baking, aquarium maintenance, and chemistry are just some of the activities that occasionally require someone to aerate some material. In Latin, aer means "air."

Definitions of aerate

1. verb

   impregnate, combine, or supply with oxygen
   synonyms: oxygenate, oxygenise, oxygenize

   type of:

   process, treat

   subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition
2. verb

   expose to fresh air
   “aerate your old sneakers”

   synonyms: air, air out

   type of:

   expose

   expose or make accessible to some action or influence
3. verb

   aerate (sewage) so as to favor the growth of organisms that decompose organic matter
   synonyms: activate

   type of:

   alter, change, modify

   cause to change; make different; cause a transformation