breath
noun
- product of breathing
- inhale and exhale air
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /bɹɛθ/ / [bɹ̠ʷɛθ] / /bɹeθ/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English breeth, breth, from Old English brǣþ (“odor, scent, stink, exhalation, vapor”), from Proto-West Germanic *brāþi (“vapour, waft, exhalation, breath”) (compare German Brodem (“haze, vapor; breath”), of a different but related formation).
- voiceless, surd; contrasting with voice (breath sounds, voice sounds)
noun
Etymology: From Middle English breeth, breth, from Old English brǣþ (“odor, scent, stink, exhalation, vapor”), from Proto-West Germanic *brāþi (“vapour, waft, exhalation, breath”) (compare German Brodem (“haze, vapor; breath”), of a different but related formation).
- The act or process of breathing.
“I could hear the breath of the runner behind me.”
“The child's breath came quickly and unevenly.”
- A single act of breathing in or out; a breathing of air.
“I took a deep breath and started the test.”
“Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes.[…]She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.”
- Air expelled from the lungs.
“I could feel the runner's breath on my shoulder.”
- A rest or pause.
“Let's stop for a breath when we get to the top of the hill.”
- A small amount of something, such as wind, or common sense.
“Even with all the windows open, there is hardly a breath of air in here.”
“If she had a breath of common sense, she would never have spoken to the man in the first place.”
- Fragrance; exhalation; odor; perfume.
“Autumn[…]Who wakenest with thy balmy breath”
“the breath of flowers”
- Gentle exercise, causing a quicker respiration.
“an after dinner's breath”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English breeth, breth, from Old English brǣþ (“odor, scent, stink, exhalation, vapor”), from Proto-West Germanic *brāþi (“vapour, waft, exhalation, breath”) (compare German Brodem (“haze, vapor; breath”), of a different but related formation).
- Misspelling of breathe.
“In the polar regions one finds dark cold waters with few places to breath.”