What does breathe mean?

breathe means "draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs". That is the primary sense; the word has 9 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in breathe?

breathe has 1 syllable: breathe. In IPA it is /ˈbɹið/.

What is another word for breathe?

Close synonyms include take a breath, respire, suspire, rest, catch one's breath. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is breathe a common word?

breathe is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

breathe — meaning, pronunciation and 9 definitions

verb

9 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs
“I can breathe better when the air is clean”
“The patient is respiring”
Synonymstake a breath respire suspire
Narrowerrespire choke hyperventilate hiccup sigh exhale inhale wheeze yawn snore
2.
be alive
“Every creature that breathes”
Broaderexist
3.
impart as if by breathing
“He breathed new life into the old house”
Broaderinstill
4.
allow the passage of air through
“Our new synthetic fabric breathes and is perfect for summer wear”
Broaderbe
5.
utter or tell
“not breathe a word”
Broaderexpress
6.
manifest or evince
“She breathes the Christian spirit”
Broaderconvey
7.
take a short break from one's activities in order to relax
Synonymsrest catch one's breath take a breather
Broaderpause
8.
reach full flavor by absorbing air and being let to stand after having been uncorked
“This rare Bordeaux must be allowed to breathe for at least 2 hours”
Broaderoxidize
9.
expel (gases or odors)
Synonymsemit pass off
Broaderexhaust
Narrowerburp force out exhale radiate bubble

Other forms of breathe

past tense: breathed·
present participle: breathing·
third person: breathes·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about breathe

What does breathe mean?: breathe means "draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs". That is the primary sense; the word has 9 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in breathe?: breathe has 1 syllable: breathe. In IPA it is /ˈbɹið/.
What is another word for breathe?: Close synonyms include take a breath, respire, suspire, rest, catch one's breath. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is breathe a common word?: breathe is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for breathe come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

verb

9 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs
“I can breathe better when the air is clean”
“The patient is respiring”
Synonymstake a breath respire suspire
Narrowerrespire choke hyperventilate hiccup sigh exhale inhale wheeze yawn snore
2.
be alive
“Every creature that breathes”
Broaderexist
3.
impart as if by breathing
“He breathed new life into the old house”
Broaderinstill
4.
allow the passage of air through
“Our new synthetic fabric breathes and is perfect for summer wear”
Broaderbe
5.
utter or tell
“not breathe a word”
Broaderexpress
6.
manifest or evince
“She breathes the Christian spirit”
Broaderconvey
7.
take a short break from one's activities in order to relax
Synonymsrest catch one's breath take a breather
Broaderpause
8.
reach full flavor by absorbing air and being let to stand after having been uncorked
“This rare Bordeaux must be allowed to breathe for at least 2 hours”
Broaderoxidize
9.
expel (gases or odors)
Synonymsemit pass off
Broaderexhaust
Narrowerburp force out exhale radiate bubble

Other forms of breathe

past tense: breathed·
present participle: breathing·
third person: breathes·

Questions about breathe

What does breathe mean?: breathe means "draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs". That is the primary sense; the word has 9 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in breathe?: breathe has 1 syllable: breathe. In IPA it is /ˈbɹið/.
What is another word for breathe?: Close synonyms include take a breath, respire, suspire, rest, catch one's breath. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is breathe a common word?: breathe is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

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breathe

verb

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breathe

verb

Other forms of breathe

Questions about breathe