breatheverb
uk/briːð/us/briːð/breathe verb (AIR)
B1 [ I or T ] to move air into and out of the lungs:
It's so airless in here - I can hardly breathe.
The instructor told us to breathe in deeply and then breathe out slowly.
I'm sorry if I'm breathing (= blowing out air containing) garlic fumes all over you!
More examples
- When you breathe out, you expel air from your lungs.
- The atmosphere in the room was so stuffy I could hardly breathe.
- The firefighters wore respirators to help them breathe in the smoke-filled house.
- The doctors are doing all that they can, but she's still not breathing properly.
- I breathed in the crisp mountain air deeply.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Animal physiology: breathing & stopping breathing
- aerobic respiration
- anaerobic
- asphyxia
- breath
- breathable
- breathing
- breathless
- gasp
- heave
- huff
- intake
- respiration
- respiratory
- sigh
- sleep apnoea
- strangle
- strangulate
- suffocate
- suffocating
- winded
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breathe verb (WORDS)
[ I, + speech ] literary to say something very quietly:
"Here they come," he breathed.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Ways of talking
- -mouthed
- babel
- blab
- blather
- croon
- declamatory
- drone
- drone on
- expressive
- hold the floor idiom
- lyrical
- meanderings
- rabbit
- rabbit on
- sink to a whisper idiom
- tattle
- telegrammatic
- throw
- waffle
- yap
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Ways of speaking
breathe verb (WINE)
[ I ] specialized food & drink If you allow wine to breathe, you open the bottle for a short time before you drink from it, in order to improve the wine's flavour.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Wines & winemaking
- -bodied
- amontillado
- Bordeaux
- brut
- bubbly
- fruity
- lay
- magnum
- Marsala
- martini
- nose
- oaky
- oenophile
- red wine
- rough
- vintner
- viticulture
- white wine
- wine
- wine cooler
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Idiom(s)
breathe your last
breathe down sb's neck
breathe easier
breathe (new) life into sth