What does "breathe" mean?
Breathe: To take breath; to rest from action. Well! breathe awhile, and then to it again! Shak.
Additional senses
- 2.To pass like breath; noiselessly or gently; to exhale; to emanate; to blow gently. The air breathes upon us here most sweetly. Shak. There breathes a living fragrance from the shore. Byron.
- 3.To inhale and exhale in the process of respiration; to respire. To view the light of heaven, and breathe the vital air. Dryden.
- 4.To inject by breathing; to infuse; -- with into. Able to breathe life into a stone. Shak. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Gen. ii.
- 5.3. To emit or utter by the breath; to utter softly; to whisper; as, to breathe a vow. He softly breathed thy name. Dryden. Or let the church, our mother, breathe her curse, A mother's curse, on her revolting son. Shak.
- 6.To exhale; to emit, as breath; as, the flowers breathe odors or perfumes.
- 7.To express; to manifest; to give forth. Others articles breathe the same severe spirit. Milner.
- 8.To act upon by the breath; to cause to sound by breathing. "They breathe the flute." Prior.
- 9.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. Shak.
- 10.To suffer to take breath, or recover the natural breathing; to rest; as, to breathe a horse. A moment breathed his panting steed. Sir W. Scott.
- 11.To put out of breath; to exhaust. Mr. Tulkinghorn arrives in his turret room, a little breathed by the journey up. Dickens.
- 12.(Phonetics) To utter without vocality, as the nonvocal consonants. The same sound may be pronounces either breathed, voiced, or whispered. H. Sweet. Breathed elements, being already voiceless, remain unchanged Note: [in whispering]. H. Sweet. 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. Dryden.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00