| 1. | atmosphere; atmospheres. |
| 2. | atmospheric. |
[at-muh
s-feer] 
noun, verb, -phered, -pher⋅ing.| 1. | the gaseous envelope surrounding the earth; the air. |
| 2. | this medium at a given place. |
| 3. | Astronomy. the gaseous envelope surrounding a heavenly body. |
| 4. | Chemistry. any gaseous envelope or medium. |
| 5. | a conventional unit of pressure, the normal pressure of the air at sea level, about 14.7 pounds per square inch (101.3 kilopascals), equal to the pressure exerted by a column of mercury 29.92 in. (760 mm) high. Abbreviation: atm. |
| 6. | a surrounding or pervading mood, environment, or influence: an atmosphere of impending war; a very tense atmosphere. |
| 7. | the dominant mood or emotional tone of a work of art, as of a play or novel: the chilly atmosphere of a ghost story. |
| 8. | a distinctive quality, as of a place; character: The old part of town has lots of atmosphere. |
| 9. | to give an atmosphere to: The author had cleverly atmosphered the novel for added chills. |
The blanket of gas on the surface of a planet or satellite.
Note: The atmosphere of the Earth is roughly eighty percent nitrogen and twenty percent oxygen, with traces of other gases. (See ionosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere.)
atmosphere at·mos·phere (āt'mə-sfǐr')
n.
A gas surrounding a given body; a gaseous medium.
Abbr. atm, atm. A unit of pressure equal to the air pressure at sea level, approximately equal to 1.01325 × 105 newtons per square meter.
atmosphere (āt'mə-sfîr') Pronunciation Key
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