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aspiration

[as-puh-rey-shuhn]

Origin

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noun

strong desire, longing, or aim; ambition: intellectual aspirations.

a goal or objective desired: The presidency is the traditional aspiration of young American boys.

act of aspirating; breath.

Phonetics.

articulation accompanied by an audible puff of breath, as in the h-sound of how, or of when (hwen), or in the release of initial stops, as in the k-sound of key.

the use of an aspirate in pronunciation.

Medicine/Medical.

the act of removing a fluid, as pus or serum, from a cavity of the body, by a hollow needle or trocar connected with a suction syringe.

the act of inhaling fluid or a foreign body into the bronchi and lungs, often after vomiting.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Latin aspīrātiōn- (stem of aspīrātiō). See aspirate, -ion

Related forms

as·pi·ra·tion·al, adjective

su·per·as·pi·ra·tion, noun

Synonyms
1. yearning, craving.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To aspiration

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Aspiration is always a great word to know.

So is oral. Does it mean:

articulated with the lower lip touching the upper front teeth

articulated with none of the voice issuing through the nose, as b, v

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Collins

World English Dictionary

aspiration (ˌæspɪˈreɪʃən)

—n
1.	strong desire to achieve something, such as success
2.	the aim of such desire
3.	a. the act of breathing
	b. a breath
4.	phonetics
	a. the pronunciation of a stop with an audible and forceful release of breath
	b. the friction of the released breath
	c. an aspirated consonant
5.	removal of air or fluid from a body cavity by suction
6.	med
	a. the sucking of fluid or foreign matter into the air passages of the body
	b. the removal of air or fluid from the body by suction

aspirational

—*adj*

aspiratory

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

aspiration

1530s, "action of breathing into," from L. aspirationem (nom. aspiratio), noun of action from aspiratus, pp. of aspirare (see aspire). Meaning "steadfast longing for a higher goal, earnest desire for something above one" is recorded from c.1600 (sometimes collectively, as aspirations).

EXPAND

aspiration

late 14c., "action of aspirating," noun of action from aspirate (q.v.).

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

aspiration as·pi·ra·tion (ās'pə-rā'shən)
n.

The removal of a gas or fluid by suction.
The sucking of fluid or a foreign body into the airway when drawing breath.
A surgical technique used in the treatment of cataracts of the eye, in which an incision is made into the cornea, the lens capsule is severed, and the material of the lens is fragmented and aspirated by a needle.

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