take air

verb

To be divulged; to be made public.

First used 17th–19th c.
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Meanings

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

present singular third person takes air · participle present taking air · past took air · participle past taken air

  1. idiomaticobsoleteTo be divulged; to be made public.First known use 17th–19th c.

    [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 […].

    1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC
    1 more example

    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 […].

    1780, The Annual Register
Cite this entry
APA

take air. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20air

MLA

“take air.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20air. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “take air,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20air.

Source: take air on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.