
aid | aid: v. 1 help, support, assist, facilitate, back, abet, uphold, promote; succour, relieve, subsidize: The invasion was aided by Richard''s subjects. He salved his conscience by aiding a local charity. --n. 2 help, support, assistance, backing, relief, benefit, service, succour, comfort: He was convicted of giving aid to the enemy in time of war. 3 funding, subsidy, subvention; grant-money, grant, grant-in-aid, scholarship: He could never have gone to university without aid from the endowment.
aide | aide: n. aide-de-camp, assistant, helper, coadjutor; good or strong right arm, right hand, right-hand man; colleague, partner, ally, comrade, comrade-in-arms, US cohort , Colloq man Friday, girl Friday, US gal Friday: The general''s aides are always at his side.
ail | ail: v. 1 trouble, afflict, affect, bother, distress, upset, worry, make ill or sick, pain, hurt: I cannot imagine what ails him, and the doctor can find nothing wrong. 2 suffer, be or feel ill or poorly or unwell or indisposed, US be sick: Granny has been ailing lately.
ailment | ailment: n. illness, sickness, affliction, disease, disorder, indisposition, malady; disability, infirmity; malaise, queasiness: Granny''s ailment has been diagnosed as influenza.
aim | aim: v. 1 direct, point, focus, train, level: The guns of the fort are aimed at the narrow pass. 2 aim at. focus on, have designs on, aspire to, plan for or on, set one''s sights on, seek, strive for, try for, wish, want: Edward aimed at absolute dominion over that kingdom. 3 seek, intend, plan: I aim to retire at fifty, if not before. --n. 4 direction, pointing, focus, focusing or focussing, sighting: His aim is so bad that he can''t hit the side of a barn with a shotgun. 5 purpose, goal, ambition, desire, aspiration, object, end, objective, target, intent, intention, plan: It was never her aim in life to be rich. The aim of the book is set forth in the Foreword.
aimless | aimless: adj. 1 purposeless, pointless, frivolous: After receiving the inheritance she led an aimless life of ease and luxury. 2 undirected, erratic, chance, haphazard, random, vagrant, wayward; wanton: We were annoyed by the tourists'' aimless meandering round the village.
air | air: n. 1 atmosphere, ambience, aura, climate, feeling, sense, mood, quality: This restaurant has a delightful air about it. 2 breeze, zephyr, current, draught; breath, puff, wind: Light airs sprang up from the south. 3 manner, style, appearance, aura, feeling, bearing, quality, flavour: Louis has a lugubrious air about him. 4 melody, tune, song, music: She was humming airs from some Italian opera. 5 airs. pretension, pretence, show, affectedness; haughtiness, hauteur, arrogance, superiority, superciliousness: He puts on such airs since he got his knighthood. --v. 6 ventilate, freshen, refresh, aerate: The chambermaid is airing the room, so you can''t go in now. 7 show off, parade, display, exhibit; publish, broadcast, circulate, publicize, make public or known, reveal, expose, disclose, divulge, tell, express, declare: Once again Andrew is airing his views on modern art.
