aspirate

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
aspirate

▶verb /ˈaspəreɪt/ 

• 1 Phonetics pronounce (a sound) with an exhalation of breath.

  ■ pronounce the sound of h at the beginning of a word.

• 2 Medicine breathe (something) in.

  ■ Medicine draw (fluid) by suction from a bodily vessel or cavity.

• 3 (as adj. aspirated) (of an internal-combustion engine) provided with air.

▶noun /ˈasp(ə)rət/ 

• 1 Phonetics an aspirated consonant.

  ■ a sound of h.

• 2 Medicine matter that has been drawn from the body by aspiration.

▶adjective /ˈasp(ə)rət/ Phonetics (of a sound) aspirated.

– origin C16: from L. aspiratus ‘breathed’, from aspirare (see aspire).