ether

noun

1. 1

   The substance formerly supposed to fill the upper regions of the atmosphere above the clouds, in particular as a medium breathed by deities. The medium breathed by human beings; the air.

   On Wings the Birds through Æther glide, / And Fiſhes cut with Fins the Tide.

   Of the mysterious world, that come to me From the elements of Fire and Earth and Water, And the all-nourishing Ether!

2. 2

   The substance formerly supposed to fill the upper regions of the atmosphere above the clouds, in particular as a medium breathed by deities. The sky, the heavens; the void, nothingness.

   In barely the blink of an eye, the perfectly healthy Judy entered a permanent vegetative state. […] What haunted me was the idea that one moment you’re gazing at your 2-year-old in her playroom and the next, you, the mother, have been whisked off into the ether forever.

   There’s a very real chance that, rather than crumbling into the dust and floating off into the ether, Thanos’s victims [in the film Avengers: Infinity War] were actually sucked up into the Soul Stone.

3. 3

   historicalOften as aether and more fully as luminiferous aether: The hypothetical substance permeating space, functioning as a medium for electromagnetic waves to propagate through, and which does not exert resistance to the movement of matter; its existence is incompatible with Einstein's theory of relativity; famously found to be undetectable by the 1887 Michelson–Morley experiment.

   The whole matter of the univerſe may be divided into atoms and æther. […] The latter, æther, is a ſubtile elaſtic fluid, whoſe particles have a continual tendency to ſeparate or fly off every way, unleſs impreſſed by ſome body: This æther ſurrounds each atom like an atmoſphere, and preſſes equally towards the center of each.

   "The ether. The earth browses upon a circular path in the fields of space, and as it moves the ether is continually pouring through it and providing its vitality."

4. 4

   The atmosphere or space as a medium for broadcasting radio and television signals; also, a notional space through which Internet and other digital communications take place; cyberspace.

   H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness He held some friendly chat with Pabodie over the ether, and repeated his praise of the really marvelous drills that had helped him make his discovery.

   Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.

5. 5

   A particular quality created by or surrounding an object, person, or place; an atmosphere, an aura.

   The luminous æther of his life was not obſcured by any ſhade dark enough to be denominated a defect.

6. 6

   Diethyl ether (C₄H₁₀O), an organic compound with a sweet odour used in the past as an anaesthetic.

   But the moſt valuable Qualities of the ÆTHER are it's medicinal ones; it having been found by repeated Experience to be an excellent Remedy in moſt nervous Diſeaſes; particularly in Fits of all ſorts, whether Epileptic, Convulſive, Hyſteric, Hypochondriac, or Paralytic: […]

   To A Gould and William T. G. Morton, of Boston, Mass., for improvement in apparatus for inhaling ether; &c., (said Gould having assigned to said Morton.) Patented Nov. 13, 1847.

   The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge.

7. 7

   Any of a class of organic compounds containing an oxygen atom bonded to two hydrocarbon groups.

   An old man to whom a few drops of phosphoric ether had been administered experienced repeated and imperious venereal wants.

8. 8

   Starting fluid.

verb

1. 1

   slangTo viciously humiliate or insult.

   The battle rapper ethered his opponent and caused him to slink away in shame.

   HS Coach Gets Ethered By Girlfriend On FB, Resigns Amid Investigation [article title] […] On Monday, a woman living in Bowling Green, Ky., used her Facebook page to unleash one of the coldest, boyfriend-crushingest Dear John letters you'll ever read.

   Cory Barker: Game of Thrones is the easiest answer for me, but MaryAnn [Sleasman] did a fine job of ethering that overrated hunk of junk, so I'm free to take a few shots at Sherlock.

   Best of all, [Steven] Soderbergh, a shade queen of our time!!!, slyly ethers James Cameron: […]

verb

1. 1

   Variant of edderAlternative form of edder.

   Ether and Ethers (rhyme to whether)—the operation of running a line of hazle or other flexible wands intertwiningly along the top of a hedge, to keep it more firmly within the hedge-stakes. "Mind you ether it right strong." To "bond" a hedge has the same meaning.

   The labourer still sits under the lew (hleow, or "hleowð," shelter, warmth) of the hedge, which has has been ethering ("eðer," a hedge); […]

   […] and he must first ascertain its [the hedge's] length, which will give him an idea of the number of stakes and ethering rods required.

noun

1. 1

   Variant of EtherAlternative letter-case form of Ether.

   Gas is not ether–it's a separate virtual currency with its own exchange rate against ether.

Forms

plural

ethers

past tense

ethered

past participle

ethered

present participle

ethering

third person singular

ethers