air quotespl.n. Gestures in which the index and middle finger of each hand are held up and curled at the same time, in imitation of quotation marks, used to indicate that something being said was actually said by someone else, is viewed with skepticism, or is a popular turn of phrase. Also called finger quotes.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.