take air

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English[edit]

Verb[edit]

take air (third-person singular simple present takes air, present participle taking air, simple past took air, past participle taken air)

  1. (obsolete, idiomatic) To be divulged; to be made public. [17th–19th c.]
    • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle [], volumes (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., [], →OCLC:
      [T]his secret having taken air, the old Israelite had contrived a scheme to separate them for ever; and they being apprized of his intention, had found means to elope from his house [] .
    • 1780, The Annual Register:
      The purchase proved fatal; the Jew's family soon died of the plague: the news took air, and the house was burnt, but the infection could not be restrained; it spread, and continued to rage with great violence [] .

Anagrams[edit]