aerate

t. [Lat. aër = air; suffix -ate (fr. Lat. -atum ) = to make.] I. Gen.: To subject to the action of atmospheric air, or any of its constituents. IL. Specially : 1. Agric . ( of land ): To cause air to permeate the soil of cultivated land for the purpose of facilitating the growth of the plants upon it. [AERATION.] 2. Physiol . (spec. of blood ): To subject to the action of the oxygen existing in atmospheric air; to oxygenate. (Used specially of the arterialisation of the venous blood by the air inhaled into the lungs.) "As in most groups of animals, important organs, such as those for propelling the blood, or for aërating it." Darwin: Origin of Species , ch. xiii. "The air pa es to aerate the blood."-Todd & Bowman: Physiol. Anat ., M. 603. "The function by which the fluids are thus aerated is called respiration."- Ibid ., 1. 24. 101 3. Of Chem. & Art ( of bread ): To subject, al one stage of the proce of manufacture, to the action of carbonic dioxide. AERATED.] ā'-er-ā-těd, pa . par . & a. [AERATE.]