Aired

Aired is the past tense and past participle of the verb air. It has two main, related senses: to transmit or broadcast something to an audience, and to expose something to air for ventilation, drying, or freshness. Aired can also appear in idiomatic phrases that extend these core meanings.

In the broadcasting sense, aired describes a program that has been transmitted to viewers or listeners. It is commonly used for radio, television, and increasingly for online platforms. Examples include “The episode aired last night” or “The special aired on PBS.” In modern usage, the term remains common even as distribution shifts toward streaming and on-demand services, with phrases like “the show aired” or “the episode is available to stream.”

In the ventilation sense, aired refers to circulating air through a space. To air a room means to ventilate it, often to refresh conditions or remove odors or moisture. Phrasal forms include “air out” (to ventilate or expose to air) and “airing” as a noun, such as “an airing of complaints” or “the network’s airing of the documentary.”

A related colloquial use is the idiom “to air one’s grievances,” meaning to express complaints publicly or openly. The term air, and by extension aired, derives from the literal sense of making air available or present, with the broadcasting sense developing in the 20th century as radio and television became widespread.