breath

breath

noun \ˈbreth\

Definition of BREATH

1

a : air filled with a fragrance or odor b : a slight indication : suggestion <the faintest breath of scandal>

2

a : the faculty of breathing <recovering his breath after the race> b : an act of breathing <fought to the last breath> c : opportunity or time to breathe : respite

3

: a slight breeze

4

a : air inhaled and exhaled in breathing <bad breath> b : something (as moisture on a cold surface) produced by breath or breathing c : inhalation

5

: a spoken sound : utterance

6

: spirit, animation

— breath of fresh air

: a welcome or refreshing change

— in one breath or in the same breath

: almost simultaneously

— out of breath

: breathing very rapidly (as from strenuous exercise)

— under one's breath

: so as to be barely audible <mumbled something under his breath>

Examples of BREATH

1. gum that freshens your breath
2. It's so cold outside that I can see my breath.
3. My mad dash for the bus left me gasping for breath.
4. I took a long breath before speaking again.
5. When Oscar Wilde allegedly gestured at the garish wallpaper in his cheap Parisian hotel room and announced with his dying —breath, “Either it goes or I go,” he was exhibiting something beyond an irrepressibly brilliant wit. —Tom Robbins, Harper's, September 2004
6. I ski as far as I can and stop (in these relatively low-altitude coastal mountains, you don't stop for breath the way you sometimes do in Colorado; here you stop when your legs demand a break) … —Lito Tejada-Flores, Skiing, February 1999

Origin of BREATH

Middle English breth, from Old English brǣth; akin to Old High German brādam breath, and perhaps to Old English beorma yeast — more at barm

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to BREATH

Synonyms: break, pause, breather, interruption, lull, recess

Related Words: time-out; interim, interlude, intermission, interval, respite, rest; cessation, discontinuance, downtime, ending, expiration, finishing, hitch, lapse, stoppage, stopping, termination; abeyance, moratorium, surcease, suspension; discontinuity, gap, hiatus

Near Antonyms: continuation, endurance, persistence, progress, progression; extension, prolongation

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