breathe
Pronunciation Verb
Synonyms
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.007
Pronunciation Verb
breathe (breathes, present participle breathing; past and past participle breathed)
- top en (intransitive) To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases.
- (intransitive) To take in needed gases and expel waste gases in a similar way.
- Fish have gills so they can breathe underwater.
- (transitive) To inhale (a gas) to sustain life.
- While life as we know it depends on oxygen, scientists have speculated that alien life forms might breathe chlorine or methane.
- (intransitive, figurative) To live.
- I will not allow it, as long as I still breathe.
- 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene i]:
- I am in health, I breathe.
Sir Walter Scott - Breathes there a man with soul so dead?
- (transitive) To draw something into the lungs.
- Try not to breathe too much smoke.
- (intransitive) To expel air from the lungs, exhale.
- If you breathe on a mirror, it will fog up.
- (transitive) To exhale or expel (something) in the manner of breath.
- The flowers breathed a heady perfume.
- 2012, Timothy Groves, The Book Of Creatures (ISBN 1105473058), page 85:
- Mountain Drakes breathe fire, Ice Drakes breathe ice, Swamp Drakes breathe acid, and Forest Drakes breathe lightning.
- (transitive) To give an impression of, to exude.
- The decor positively breathes classical elegance.
- (transitive) To whisper quietly.
- He breathed the words into her ear, but she understood them all.
- To pass like breath; noiselessly or gently; to emanate; to blow gently.
- The wind breathes through the trees.
- 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act 2, scene 1]:
- The air breathes upon us here most sweetly.
Byron - There breathes a living fragrance from the shore.
- (intransitive) To exchange gases with the environment.
- Garments made of certain new materials breathe well and keep the skin relatively dry during exercise.
- (intransitive, now, rare) To rest; to stop and catch one's breath.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:12.64?rgn=div2;view=fulltext chapter lxiiij], in Le Morte Darthur, book X:
- Thenne they lasshed to gyder many sad strokes / & tracyd and trauercyd now bakward / now sydelyng hurtlyng to gyders lyke two bores / & that same tyme they felle both grouelyng to the erthe / Thus they fought styll withoute ony reposynge two houres and neuer brethed
Shakespeare - Well! breathe awhile, and then to it again!
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:12.64?rgn=div2;view=fulltext chapter lxiiij], in Le Morte Darthur, book X:
- (transitive) To stop, to give (a horse) an opportunity to catch its breath.
- At higher altitudes you need to breathe your horse more often.
- (transitive) To exercise; to tire by brisk exercise.
- (transitive, figurative) To passionately devote much of one's life to (an activity, etc.).
- Do you like hiking? Are you kidding? I breathe hiking.
conjugation of breathe
infinitive | breathe | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | breathing | ||||||||||
past participle | breathed | ||||||||||
simple | progressive | perfect | perfect progressive | ||||||||
present | I breathe | we breathe | I am breathing | we are breathing | I have breathed | we have breathed | I have been breathing | we have been breathing | |||
you breathe | you breathe | you are breathing | you are breathing | you have breathed | you have breathed | you have been breathing | you have been breathing | ||||
he breathes | they breathe | he is breathing | they are breathing | he has breathed | they have breathed | he has been breathing | they have been breathing | ||||
past | I breathed | we breathed | I was breathing | we were breathing | I had breathed | we had breathed | I had been breathing | we had been breathing | |||
you breathed | you breathed | you were breathing | you were breathing | you had breathed | you had breathed | you had been breathing | you had been breathing | ||||
he breathed | they breathed | he was breathing | they were breathing | he had breathed | they had breathed | he had been breathing | they had been breathing | ||||
future | I will breathe | we will breathe | I will be breathing | we will be breathing | I will have breathed | we will have breathed | I will have been breathing | we will have been breathing | |||
you will breathe | you will breathe | you will be breathing | you will be breathing | you will have breathed | you will have breathed | you will have been breathing | you will have been breathing | ||||
he will breathe | they will breathe | he will be breathing | they will be breathing | he will have breathed | they will have breathed | he will have been breathing | they will have been breathing | ||||
conditional | I would breathe | we would breathe | I would be breathing | we would be breathing | I would have breathed | we would have breathed | I would have been breathing | we would have been breathing | |||
you would breathe | you would breathe | you would be breathing | you would be breathing | you would have breathed | you would have breathed | you would have been breathing | you would have been breathing | ||||
he would breathe | they would breathe | he would be breathing | they would be breathing | he would have breathed | they would have breathed | he would have been breathing | they would have been breathing | ||||
imperative | breathe |
- (to draw air in and out) see Thesaurus:breathe
- (to be passionate about) live and breathe
- French: respirer, inspirer, expirer
- German: atmen
- Italian: respirare
- Portuguese: respirar
- Russian: дыша́ть
- Spanish: respirar
- Russian: дыша́ть
- Portuguese: respirar
- Russian: жить
- Russian: выдыха́ть
- Russian: дыша́ть
- Russian: дыша́ть
- Russian: ве́ять
- Portuguese: respirar, resfolegar
- Russian: перевести́ дух
- Russian: дать переды́шку
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.007