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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

in the air en · ADP

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) In the surrounding ambience.
    • You may not know La Baule. Think of it as Bognor Regis. Now, you may have spent half your life there, but I do not believe you ever heard Beethoven playing in the air. 2007 November 3, David Thomson, “Music in the air”, in The Guardian:
    • As soon as we entered we could feel the excitement and tension in the air.
  2. (idiomatic) In the generally prevailing feeling, idea, atmosphere, or mood.
    • But capital was proving difficult to raise; rumours were in the air that the G.W.R. and L.S.W.R. were about to patch up their quarrel, and the people of Southampton, who twelve months earlier had staged a torch-light procession to celebrate the passing of the D.N.S.R. Act, were increasingly loath to part with their cash. 1955 February, T. B. Sands, “The Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 79:
    • Polo was nothing if golf were in the air! 1902, Robert Marshall Grade, The Haunted Major:
    • MAHER: Well, whatever. I just said we shouldn't have two national anthems. We're one country. It's not a good idea. We've seen what happens in other countries where you have, you know- when you separate things out. That's never where America was. That's never where liberalism was. It was about being a colorblind society. So, a new national anthem? Fine. I'll go for that. But not two. Because that leads down a road we don't wanna go. Applause. KIMMEL: Do you feel like... MAHER: Thank you. KIMMEL: Hey there's a lot of fear in the air and generally, you don't want to be caught applauding something that might be controversial. MAHER: I couldn't give a fuck. KIMMEL: I wasn't talking about you. 2021 September 16, Bill Maher, 7:52 from the start, in Bill Maher on Getting Anger from Both Sides, Our Divided Country & Norm Macdonald’s Passing, Jimmy Kimmel Live!:
    • I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord. 1981, Phil Collins, “In The Air Tonight”, in Face Value:
  3. (idiomatic) Prevalent without traceable origin or authority.
    • There was a rumour about them in the air.
  4. (idiomatic) Not in a fixed or stable position; unsettled; up in the air.
  5. (idiomatic) Unsupported and liable to be turned or taken in flank.
    • The army had its wing in the air.