vent
verbEtymology 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.
8 senses
- 1To allow gases to escape.
- 2To allow gases to escape from (a sealed space, container, etc.).
- 3To allow to escape through a vent.
- 4To express a strong emotion.
- 5To snuff; to breathe or puff out; to snort.
- 6To determine the sex of (a chick) by opening up the anal…
- 7Of an otter: to emerge from the water to breathe in air.
- 8To use a vent in the video game Among Us.
1
To allow gases to escape.
- The stove vents to the outside.
2
To allow gases to escape from (a sealed space, container, etc.).
- In the engine room, the changing angle dropped the melted core to the deck. The hot mass attacked the steel deck first, burning through that, then the titanium of the hull. Five seconds later the engine room was vented to the sea. The Politovskiy's largest compartment filled rapidly with water. This destroyed what little reserve buoyancy the ship had, and the acute down-angle returned. The Alfa began her last dive.1984, Tom Clancy, “The Eighth Day: Friday, 10 December”, in The Hunt for Red October, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, →ISBN, pages 194–195:
3
To allow to escape through a vent.
- Exhaust is vented to the outside.
4
To express a strong emotion.
- He vents his anger violently.
- Can we talk? I need to vent.
3 more examples
- He inveighed against the folly of making oneself liable for the debts of others; vented many bitter execrations against the brother; and concluded with wishing something could be done for the unfortunate family.1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:
- But the demonstrators remained defiant, pouring into the streets by the thousands and venting their anger over political corruption, the high cost of living and huge public spending for the World Cup and the Olympics.2013 June 18, Simon Romero, “Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 Jun 2013:
- “They won’t shut the fuck up about it,” Trump privately vented — referring to conservative influencers and media types lashing out over the Epstein memo — according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.2025 July 16, Ryan Bort and Asawin Suebsaeng, “Trump calls Epstein conspiracy a ‘hoax’ and turns on Maga ‘weaklings’”, in Rolling Stone:
5
To snuff; to breathe or puff out; to snort.
- Seest, howe brag yond Bullocke beares, So smirke, so smoothe, his pricked eares?[…] See howe he venteth into the wynd.1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Februarie. Ægloga Secunda.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC:
6
To determine the sex of (a chick) by opening up the anal vent or cloaca.
7
Of an otter: to emerge from the water to breathe in air.
8
Video games Slang To use a vent in the video game Among Us.
- We suspect they’ve vented to medbay and are intending to use some kind of surgical tools to ‘upgrade’ the original Among Us with a bunch of cool new features and levels, instead of starting over from scratch with the sequel.2020 September 24, Jen Rothery, “Among Us 2: everything we know about the sequel”, in PCGamesN, Bath, Somerset: Network N Media, archived from the original on 18 Sep 2020:
- “Among Us” has become ingrained into Generation Z’s culture in such a way that phrases such as “yellow is sus,” “purple vented” or “skip vote” are part of our daily vernacular.2020 November 19, Muhammad Tariq, “Those we didn't know are ‘Among Us’”, in The California Aggie, volume 139, number 7, Davis, Calif.: Associated Students of UC Davis, →OCLC, page 8, column 2:
1 more example
- When you’re venting as an impostor, you’ll be able to peer through the grille to see who’s passing by.2022 June 9, Kris Holt, “‘Among Us VR’ Trailer Shows First-Person Tasks, Venting And Emergency Meetings”, in Forbes, Jersey City, N.J.: Forbes Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Jun 2022:
- Derived terms
- vent one's gall, vent one's spleen, vent sex