Other forms: vents, vented, venting
A vent is an opening that lets air or feeling escape. An air vent, block the vent, vent his anger.
Blocking one is dangerous where a gas appliance is fitted, since the vent is what carries fumes away. As a verb it means to express strong feeling, and the old idea that venting anger discharges it is not supported — it tends to keep the anger going.
1nounventAn opening that lets air escape.
“Hot air blew out of the vent above the oven.”
2verbexpressTo express strong feeling.
“After a bad day at work, she vented her anger by shouting into a pillow.”
vent is an opening, or an outlet.
Partly from French vent, wind, from Latin ventus, and partly from French eventer, to expose to air.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂weh₁-
French
éventer
Latin
ventus
Middle French
vent
English, today
vent
Partly from Middle French vent, from Latin ventus and partly from French éventer. Cognate with French vent and Spanish viento (“wind”) and ventana (“window”). a doublet of wind.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA