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plural ventilators
A device that circulates fresh air and expels stale or noxious air. examples
(medicine) A machine that moves breathable air into and out of the lungs of a patient who is unable to breathe sufficiently. examples
(figurative) Some behaviour or happening that relieves a tense atmosphere or situation. quotations examples
A lover's quarrel is made up of jealousies, doubts, hopes, fears, and all sorts of fantastic fancies: a matrimonial dispute, on the contrary, is composed of familiar and ordinary matter, a sort of ventilator to the temper!
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “An Act of Parliament”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], page 188
(obsolete, slang) A play or an actor so bad as to empty the theater.