DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
Breathe v. i. [imp. & p. p. Breathed p. pr. & vb. n. Breathing.]
1. To respire; to inhale and exhale air; hence;, to live. “I am in health, I breathe.”
Breathes there a man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land! --Sir W. Scott [The Lay of the Last Minstrel].
2. To take breath; to rest from action.
Well! breathe awhile, and then to it again! --Shak.
3. 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.
Breath·ing n.
1. Respiration; the act of inhaling and exhaling air.
Subject to a difficulty of breathing. --Melmoth.
2. Air in gentle motion.
3. Any gentle influence or operation; inspiration; as, the breathings of the Spirit.
4. Aspiration; secret prayer. “Earnest desires and breathings after that blessed state.”
5. Exercising; promotion of respiration.
Here is a lady that wants breathing too;
And I have heard, you knights of Tyre
Are excellent in making ladies trip. --Shak.
6. Utterance; communication or publicity by words.
I am sorry to give breathing to my purpose. --Shak.
7. Breathing place; vent.
8. Stop; pause; delay.
You shake the head at so long a breathing. --Shak.
9. Also, in a wider sense, the sound caused by the friction of the outgoing breath in the throat, mouth, etc., when the glottis is wide open; aspiration; the sound expressed by the letter h.
10. Gr. Gram. A mark to indicate aspiration or its absence. See Rough breathing, Smooth breathing, below.
Breathing place. (a) A pause. “That cæsura, or breathing place, in the midst of the verse.” --Sir P. Sidney. (b) A vent.
Breathing time, pause; relaxation. --Bp. Hall.
Breathing while, time sufficient for drawing breath; a short time. --Shak.
Rough breathing (spiritus asper) (῾). See 2d Asper, n.
Smooth breathing (spiritus lenis), a mark (') indicating the absence of the sound of h, as in 'ie`nai (ienai).
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breathing
adj : passing or able to pass air in and out of the lungs
normally; sometimes used in combination; "the boy was
disappointed to find only skeletons instead of living
breathing dinosaurs"; "the heavy-breathing person on
the telephone" [syn: eupneic, eupnoeic] [ant: breathless]
n : the bodily process of inhalation and exhalation; the process
of taking in oxygen from inhaled air and releasing carbon
dioxide by exhalation [syn: external respiration, respiration,
ventilation]