Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To inhale and exhale air using the lungs.
- intransitive verb To inhale air or another gas.
- intransitive verb To exhale air or another gas.
- intransitive verb To exchange gases as part of respiration or photosynthesis.
- intransitive verb To use air in combustion.
- intransitive verb To be alive; live.
- intransitive verb To pause to rest or regain breath.
- intransitive verb To move or blow gently.
- intransitive verb To allow air to pass through.
- intransitive verb To be exhaled or emanated, as a fragrance.
- intransitive verb To be manifested or suggested, as an idea or feeling.
- intransitive verb To reach fullness of flavor and aroma through exposure to air. Used chiefly of wine.
- intransitive verb To inhale and exhale (air or a gas such as oxygen) during respiration.
- intransitive verb To inhale (an aroma, for example).
- intransitive verb To exhale or blow out.
- intransitive verb To take in or exchange (air or gases).
- intransitive verb To impart or instill.
- intransitive verb To utter, especially quietly.
- intransitive verb To make apparent or manifest; suggest.
- intransitive verb To allow (a person or animal) to rest or regain breath.
- intransitive verb Linguistics To utter with a voiceless exhalation of air.
- intransitive verb To draw in (air) for combustion.
- idiom (breathe down (someone's) neck) To threaten by proximity, especially by pursuing closely.
- idiom (breathe down (someone's) neck) To watch or monitor closely, often annoyingly.
- idiom (easily/easy) /freely) To be relaxed or relieved, especially after a period of tension.
- idiom (breathe (one's) last) To die.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To draw air into and expel it from the lungs; respire; figuratively, to live.
- To make a single respiration.
- To take breath; rest from action.
- To pass, as air; blow: as, “when winds breathe sweet,”
- To give utterance to disparaging or calumnious remarks; make insinuations: with upon.
- To exhale, as an odor; emanate.
- Figuratively, of inanimate things, to be instinct; be alive.
- To inhale and exhale in respiration: as, to
breathe vitiated air. - To inject by breathing; infuse: with into: as, “to breathe life into a stone,”
- To exhale; send out as breath; express; manifest.
- To exercise; keep in breath.
- To inspire or blow into; cause to sound by breathing.
- To utter; speak; whisper.
- To suffer to rest or recover breath.
- To open and bleed (a vein).
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To inhale and exhale in the process of respiration; to respire.
- transitive verb To inject by breathing; to infuse; -- with
into . - transitive verb To emit or utter by the breath; to utter softly; to whisper.
- transitive verb To exhale; to emit, as breath.
- transitive verb To express; to manifest; to give forth.
- transitive verb To act upon by the breath; to cause to sound by breathing.
- transitive verb To promote free respiration in; to exercise.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But the student should learn to inspire through the slightly open mouth, as to breathe through the nose in speaking, and especially in singing, is objectionable for several reasons which can be better explained later; so that the rule is to _breathe through the nose when not using the voice, and through the mouth when one does_.
Voice Production in Singing and Speaking Based on Scientific Principles (Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged) Wesley Mills 1881
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I count each time I press down, interrupting the count to insert the word breathe and then starting again.
Between Expectations Md Meghan Maclean Weir 2011
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I count each time I press down, interrupting the count to insert the word breathe and then starting again.
Between Expectations Md Meghan Maclean Weir 2011
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She pauses for a second, mouthing the word breathe to him.
Cheer! Kate Torgovnick 2008
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She pauses for a second, mouthing the word breathe to him.
Cheer! Kate Torgovnick 2008
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It would have been a sacrifice, defacing the sweet sign above the town hall's entry, but l'eau, just like the air we breathe, is a human right that should not rhyme with industry.
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Clause A could apply to, as being unable to breathe is very uncomfortable and gets increasingly so very quickly, as any child swimming frantically to the surface of a pool after seeing how long he or she can sit on the bottom can attest.
Matthew Yglesias » No One Expects The Spanish Inquisition 2010
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Clause A could apply to, as being unable to breathe is very uncomfortable and gets increasingly so very quickly, as any child swimming frantically to the surface of a pool after seeing how long he or she can sit on the bottom can attest.
Matthew Yglesias » No One Expects The Spanish Inquisition 2010
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All vegetables are living organisms, just about anything you eat, touch or breathe is a living organism.
CT Deer Managers Feel Threatened By Animal-Right Activists 2009
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All vegetables are living organisms, just about anything you eat, touch or breathe is a living organism.
CT Deer Managers Feel Threatened By Animal-Right Activists 2009
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