Venting

How to spell venting

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce venting

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does venting mean?

1. verbProviding an outlet so that air, gas, smoke, or pressure can escape.
2. verbFreely expressing strong or pent-up emotions, especially frustration or anger.

Venting in a sentence

• The engineers were venting the gas from the tank before any repairs began.

• She spent the whole lunch break venting about her impossible workload.

• Venting the loft properly stops moisture building up under the roof.

• Venting to a close friend helped him calm down after the argument.

Where does venting come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the present participle of the verb 'vent', which traces back to the Latin ventus, meaning 'wind'. English picked it up through Old French, where 'vent' meant 'wind' or 'air' and the related verb 'esventer' meant 'to let out into the air' or 'to expose to the wind'. The earliest English uses, from the late 1300s and 1400s, were quite literal: to give an outlet to air, gas, or smoke so that pressure could escape. By the 1600s the word had taken on its familiar figurative life, describing the release of pent-up feelings as if emotions were steam needing an outlet. The same ventus root sits inside 'ventilate' and 'ventilation', which is a handy reminder that the core idea is always moving air, and the spelling is mercifully regular: just add -ing to vent.

How the word is built

• vent (from Latin ventus: wind)
• -ing (present participle/gerund)