Meaning & use

aspiration

noun·Academic

A strong hope or ambition to achieve something in the future.

See it in a sentence

Her aspiration to become a surgeon shaped every choice she made in college.

Owning a small farm someday remains his lifelong aspiration and greatest personal goal.

A note on using this word

Aspiration emphasizes a hoped-for achievement rather than a concrete plan; in medicine, the same word describes breathing a foreign object into the lungs or drawing fluid out by suction.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Another way to use it

2. noun

The act of drawing fluid or a foreign object into the lungs or airway by breathing.

The infant was rushed to the hospital after aspiration of a small toy part.

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