Vent Meaning
/vɛnt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn opening through which gases, especially air, can pass.
nounA small aperture.
Sentence Examples
He is apt to give vent to his feelings.
He gave vent to his disappointment.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the long meeting, she needed to ____ her frustration by screaming loudly into a pillow.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He needed to ____ his frustration after the long meeting, so he went for a long run.
Word Origin & History
Partly from Middle French vent, from Latin ventus and partly from French éventer. Cognate with French vent and Spanish viento (“wind”) and ventana (“window”). Doublet of wind.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"According to geologists who work in the area, the vents at Castello Aragonese have been spewing carbon dioxide for at least several hundred years, maybe longer."
— 2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Picador, →ISBN, page 122:
"Look, how thy wounds do bleed at many vents."
— c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
"There, at one Paſſage, oft you might ſurvey / A Lye and Truth contending for the vvay; / And long 'tvvas doubtful, both ſo cloſely pent, / VVhich firſt ſhould iſſue thro the narrovv Vent: […]"
— 1715, [Alexander] Pope, The Temple of Fame: A Vision, London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 41:
"without the vent of words"
— 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"Thou didst make tolerable vent of thy travel."
— c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the long meeting, she needed to ____ her frustration by screaming loudly into a pillow.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He needed to ____ his frustration after the long meeting, so he went for a long run.