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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

breathe.

To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases.

7 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/bɹiːð/Received-Pronunciation/bɹið/Canada, General-American/bɹiːð/Australia, New-Zealand/bɹiːv/
  1. To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases.

    intransitive
  2. To take in needed gases and expel waste gases in a similar way.

    intransitive
    Fish have gills so they can breathe underwater.
  3. To inhale (a gas) to sustain life.

    transitive
    While life as we know it depends on oxygen, scientists have speculated that alien life forms might breathe chlorine or methane.
  4. To live.

    figuratively · intransitive
    I will not allow it, as long as I still breathe.
  5. To draw something into the lungs.

    transitive
    Try not to breathe too much smoke.
  6. To expel air from the lungs, exhale.

    intransitive
    If you breathe on a mirror, it will fog up.
  7. To exhale or expel (something) in the manner of breath.

    transitive
    The flowers breathed a heady perfume.
  8. To give an impression of, to exude.

    transitive
    The decor positively breathes classical elegance.
  9. To whisper quietly.

    transitive
    He breathed the words into her ear, but she understood them all.
  10. To pass like breath; noiselessly or gently; to emanate; to blow gently.

    The wind breathes through the trees.
  11. To inspire (scripture).

  12. To exchange gases with the environment.

    intransitive
    Uncork the wine and leave it on the table for a few minutes to allow it to breathe.
  13. Of a material etc., to allow gases to pass through.

    intransitive
    Garments made of certain new materials breathe well and keep the skin relatively dry during exercise.
  14. To rest; to stop and catch one's breath.

    archaic · intransitive
  15. To stop, to give (a horse) an opportunity to catch its breath.

    transitive
    At higher altitudes you need to breathe your horse more often.
  16. To exercise; to tire by brisk exercise.

    transitive
  17. To passionately devote much of one's life to (an activity, etc.).

    figuratively · transitive
    ―Do you like hiking? ―Are you kidding? I breathe hiking.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English brethen (“to breathe, blow, exhale, odour”), derived from Middle English breth (“breath”). Eclipsed Middle English ethien and orðiæn, from Old English ēþian and orþian (“to breathe”); as well as Middle English anden, onden, from Old Norse anda (“to breathe”). More at breath.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.