English > air current: 1 sense > noun 1, phenomenon| Meaning | Air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. |
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| Example | "the radioactivity was being swept upwards by the air current and out into the atmosphere" |
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| Synonyms | wind, current of air |
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| Narrower | Santa Ana | A strong hot dry wind that blows in winter from the deserts of southern California toward the Pacific Coast |
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| airstream | A relatively well-defined prevailing wind |
| breeze, zephyr, gentle wind, air | A slight wind (usually refreshing) |
| calm air, calm | wind moving at less than 1 knot |
| chinook, chinook wind, snow eater | A warm dry wind blowing down the eastern slopes of the Rockies |
| crosswind | wind blowing across the path of a ship or aircraft |
| doldrums | A belt of calms and light winds between the northern and southern trade winds of the Atlantic and Pacific |
| draft, draught | A current of air (usually coming into a chimney or room or vehicle) |
| east wind, easter, easterly | A wind from the east |
| fohn, foehn | A warm dry wind that blows down the northern slopes of the Alps |
| gale | A strong wind moving 45-90 knots |
| gust, blast, blow | A strong current of air |
| harmattan | A dusty wind from the Sahara that blows toward the western coast of Africa during the winter |
| headwind | wind blowing opposite to the path of a ship or aircraft |
| high wind | A very strong wind |
| katabatic wind, catabatic wind | A wind caused by the downward motion of cold air |
| khamsin | An oppressively hot southerly wind from the Sahara that blows across Egypt in the spring |
| languor | Oppressively still air |
| monsoon | A seasonal wind in southern Asia |
| monsoon | Any wind that changes direction with the seasons |
| north wind, northerly, norther, boreas | A wind that blows from the north |
| northwest wind, northwester | A wind from the northwest |
| prevailing wind | The predominant wind direction |
| simoom, simoon, samiel | A violent hot sand-laden wind on the deserts of Arabia and North Africa |
| south wind, souther, southerly | A wind from the south |
| southeaster, sou'easter | A strong wind from the southeast |
| southwester, sou'wester | A strong wind from the southwest |
| squall | sudden violent winds |
| tailwind | wind blowing in the same direction as the path of a ship or aircraft |
| thermal | Rising current of warm air |
| west wind, wester | wind that blows from west to east |
| Broader | weather, weather condition, conditions, atmospheric condition | The atmospheric conditions that comprise the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation |
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| Substances | air | A mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing |
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| Spanish | aire, viento |
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| Catalan | aire, vent |
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