hyperventilate
verb
Did you know?
Hyperventilating can be a response to fear and anxiety. A test pilot who panics and hyperventilates faces a dangerous situation. When the level of carbon dioxide in your blood goes down and the oxygen level goes up, blood vessels constrict because of the chemical changes and the body can't get enough oxygen (even though it's there in the blood), and the pilot can become lightheaded and may even faint. To guard against this, pilots are taught to control their breathing. On the ground, the usual remedy for hyperventilation is breathing into a paper bag, which raises the level of carbon dioxide and restores normal breathing.
Examples of hyperventilate in a Sentence
Neal B. Freeman, National Review, 19 Feb. 2025
But Min-su ends up hyperventilating as Nam-gyu stabs her to death anyway.
—Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 26 Dec. 2024
People ran pell-mell outside, sped away in cars with no clear destination, went to church, or just phoned the police or radio station to hyperventilate.
—Nicolas Rapold, airmail.news, 23 Nov. 2024
Joey and Jesse hyperventilate at the sight of her.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 6 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Hyperventilate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hyperventilate. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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hyperventilate
verb
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