breathe

verb

UK /briːð/

Word Forms

present tense
I/you/we/they	breathe
he/she/it	breathes
present participle	breathing
past tense	breathed
past participle	breathed

1
intransitive/transitive to take air into your lungs through your nose or mouth and let it out again
He held her so tightly she could hardly breathe.
We can no longer have confidence in the quality of the air we breathe.
Doctors said he was having difficulty breathing.
breathe deeply/hard/heavily (=take a lot of air into your lungs):
She leant against the door, breathing deeply.
Synonyms and related words
To breathe, or to have difficulty breathing
breathe
blow
sigh
1. 1a
  transitive to bring other substances into your mouth or lungs as you breathe
  I don’t want to breathe other people’s smoke.
  Synonyms and related words
  To breathe, or to have difficulty breathing
  breathe
  blow
  sigh
2. 1b
  intransitive to blow air from your mouth onto something
  breathe on:
  She breathed on her glasses then polished them on her shirt.
  Synonyms and related words
  To breathe, or to have difficulty breathing
  breathe
  blow
  sigh
2
intransitive clothes that can breathe are made from cloth with very small holes that allow air in
Synonyms and related words
What clothing and cloth can do
bag
breathe
bunch
3
transitive literaryto say something very quietly
Synonyms and related words
To talk quietly or weakly
whisper
murmur
mutter
4
intransitive if you let wine breathe, you open it a short time before you drink it so that the flavour improves
Synonyms and related words
Relating to wines and spirits
age
breathe
decant
5
breathe and bleed for
to dedicate all your energy and enthusiasm to
They lived, breathed and bled for this music.
Submitted from:
United Kingdom on 22/05/2018
Open Dictionary - May2018

phrases

breathe down someone’s neck

breathe (easily/freely) again

breathe your last (breath)

breathe (new) life into something

breathe a sigh of relief

breathing fire

not breathe a word

phrasal verbs

breathe in

breathe out

breathe ​‌‌

breathe and bleed for

breathe ​‌‌

breathe and bleed for

breathe

breathe