Breathe /(brēth)/

Breathe

v. i.

imp. & p. p. Breathed; p. pr. & vb. n. Breathing

  1. To respire; to inhale and exhale air; hence;, to live.
    Breathes there a man with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land!
    — Sir W. Scott [The Lay of the Last Minstrel].
  2. To take breath; to rest from action.
    Well! breathe awhile, and then to it again!
  3. To pass like breath; noiselessly or gently; to exhale; to emanate; to blow gently.
    The air breathes upon us here most sweetly.
    There breathes a living fragrance from the shore.

Breathe

v. t.
  1. To inhale and exhale in the process of respiration; to respire.
    To view the light of heaven, and breathe the vital air.
  2. To inject by breathing; to infuse; -- with into.
    Able to breathe life into a stone.
    And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
    — Gen. ii. 7.
  3. To emit or utter by the breath; to utter softly; to whisper; as, to breathe a vow.
    He softly breathed thy name.
    Or let the church, our mother, breathe her curse, A mother's curse, on her revolting son.
  4. To exhale; to emit, as breath; as, the flowers breathe odors or perfumes.
  5. To express; to manifest; to give forth.
    Others articles breathe the same severe spirit.
    — Milner.
  6. To act upon by the breath; to cause to sound by breathing.
  7. To promote free respiration in; to exercise.
    And every man should beat thee. I think thou wast created for men to breathe themselves upon thee.
  8. To suffer to take breath, or recover the natural breathing; to rest; as, to breathe a horse.
    A moment breathed his panting steed.
  9. To put out of breath; to exhaust.
    Mr. Tulkinghorn arrives in his turret room, a little breathed by the journey up.
  10. To utter without vocality, as the nonvocal consonants. (Phonetics)
    The same sound may be pronounces either breathed, voiced, or whispered.
    — H. Sweet.
    Breathed elements, being already voiceless, remain unchanged [in whispering].
    — H. Sweet.

Phrases & Compounds

To breathe again
to take breath; to feel a sense of relief, as from danger, responsibility, or press of business.
To breathe one's last
to die; to expire.
To breathe a vein
to open a vein; to let blood.