ventilation shafts

Meaning

1. 1nounplural

   Narrow vertical or horizontal passages in a building, mine or tunnel that carry fresh air in or stale air out.

   Grammar: Plural form: the ventilation shafts were blocked. Singular is a ventilation shaft.

   Patterns

   • ventilation shafts in something
   • through the ventilation shafts

   Inspectors checked the ventilation shafts for dust and mold.

   Smoke spread quickly through the building's ventilation shafts.

   The tunnel has two ventilation shafts that rise to the surface.

Word forms

Common combinations

clean the ventilation shafts

Maintenance staff clean the ventilation shafts every spring.

crawl through ventilation shafts

In the movie, the spy crawls through ventilation shafts to escape.

blocked ventilation shafts

Blocked ventilation shafts caused the basement to smell musty.

mine ventilation shafts

Mine ventilation shafts keep miners supplied with fresh air.

Synonyms and how they differ

air ducts

Air ducts are the pipes of a heating or cooling system, usually smaller and horizontal, whereas shafts are larger passages.

air vents

Air vents usually refer to the openings, not the long passages behind them.

airways

Airways is used in mining for the tunnels carrying air and is more specialized.

Word family

ventilate verb

to let fresh air circulate

ventilation noun

the movement of fresh air

ventilator noun

a device that moves air

shaft noun

a long narrow passage

Commonly confused: ventilation shafts or ventilator?

Practice

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