mindmap root((空气)) air refers to the impalpable breathable substance essential to life: the ~ we breathe; or that substance mixed with others: smoggy ~. atmosphere suggests the gaseous layers surrounding the earth or another celestial body: the poisonous ~ of Venus; or the air which fills a particular place or is in a particular state: the room's stagnant ~. ether implies a more rarefied or more delicate or subtle medium which was formerly said to fill the upper regions or interstellar space: gods who dwelled in the ~; and is used technically to denote a hypothetical medium in space suitable for the transmission of transverse waves: broadcast into the ~ in hopes someone would hear. ozone denotes generally air that is notably pure and refreshing: the vivifying ~ of a thunderstorm.