as in gasped
to breathe hard, quickly, or with difficulty
he was wheezing rapidly after a hard run
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of wheezed
The previous owners must have doused the property with chemicals, and as summer wheezed toward its smoky end, my lawn became less suburban ideal and more of a pop quiz in weed identification.
—
Maggie Slepian, Longreads, 14 May 2026
The old boiler wheezed and stalled, the roof sprang leaks, half-century-old pipes cracked, and the lobby intercom was defunct.
—Michael Powell, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2026
Maggie Slepian, Longreads, 14 May 2026
The old boiler wheezed and stalled, the roof sprang leaks, half-century-old pipes cracked, and the lobby intercom was defunct.
—Michael Powell, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wheezed
Verb
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As guests gasped, the groom and another groomsman rushed to Williams' aid and helped him back up.—
Ashlyn Robinette,
PEOPLE,
2 June 2026
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The crowd gasped, then erupted in cheers.—
Michael Schulman,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Verb
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Pet owners spoke reassuringly to their dogs, who panted and pawed their owners, and to their mewing cats.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 June 2026
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On one of the machines a Cluely employee panted and huffed in the dark.—
Sam Kriss,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wheezed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wheezed. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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