Daily Almanac for
Feb 9, 2010
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as•pi•ra•tion



Pronunciation: (as"pu-rā'shun), [key]
—n.
1. strong desire, longing, or aim; ambition: intellectual aspirations.
2. a goal or objective desired: The presidency is the traditional aspiration of young American boys.
3. act of aspirating; breath.
4. Phonet.
a. articulation accompanied by an audible puff of breath, as in the h-sound of how, or of when (hwen), or in the release of initial stops, as in the k-sound of key.
b. the use of an aspirate in pronunciation.
5. Med.
a. the act of removing a fluid, as pus or serum, from a cavity of the body, by a hollow needle or trocar connected with a suction syringe.
b. the act of inhaling fluid or a foreign body into the bronchi and lungs, often after vomiting.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

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