give someone the air

English

Verb

give someone the air (third-person singular simple present gives someone the air, present participle giving someone the air, simple past gave someone the air, past participle given someone the air)

  1. (slang, dated) To jilt or ditch a lover.
    • 1927, Sunset, volume 59, page 64:
      “The slick-haired dame's give him the air!” he says.
    • 1946, The Saturday Evening Post, volume 218, page 24:
      Mrs. Mac turned back toward downtown and I said, "What do you mean my girl gave me the air? […]
    • 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:
      Soon, you might think, a lone figure dressed in tails and a top-hat — Fred Astaire, or maybe Gene Kelly — would appear and dance his way from one of those spots to the next, singing about how lonely a fellow could be when his best girl had given him the air and all the bars were closed.
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