breathe (redirected from doesn't breathe a word)

breathe  (br)

v. breathed, breath·ing, breathes

v.intr.

1. To inhale and exhale air, especially when naturally and freely.

2. To be alive; live: A nicer person has never breathed.

3. To pause to rest or regain breath: Give me a moment to breathe.

4. To move or blow gently, as air.

5. To allow air to pass through: a natural fabric that breathes.

6. To be exhaled or emanated, as a fragrance.

7. To be manifested or suggested, as an idea or feeling: A sense of calm breathed from the landscape.

8. To reach fullness of flavor and aroma through exposure to air. Used chiefly of wine.

9. To require air in the combustion process. Used of an internal-combustion engine.

v.tr.

1. To inhale and exhale (air, for example) during respiration.

2. To inhale (an aroma, for example): breathe the lush scent of lilacs.

3. To impart as if by breathing; instill: an artist who knows how to breathe life into a portrait.

4. To exhale (something); emit.

5. To utter, especially quietly: Don't breathe a word of this.

6. To make apparent or manifest; suggest: Their manner breathed self-satisfaction.

7. To allow (a person or animal) to rest or regain breath.

8. Linguistics To utter with a voiceless exhalation of air.

9. To draw in (air) for the combustion process. Used of an internal-combustion engine.

Idioms:

breathe down (someone's) neck

1. To threaten by proximity, especially by pursuing closely.

2. To watch or monitor closely, often annoyingly: The boss was breathing down my neck all morning.

breathe easily/easy/freely

To be relaxed or relieved, especially after a period of tension.

breathe (one's) last

To die.

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[Middle English brethen, from breth, breath; see breath.]

Our Living Language The euphemistic expression breathe one's last illustrates a widespread linguistic and cultural phenomenon known as taboo avoidance. There are certain concepts that few people like to talk or think about, and death is certainly one of them. Such concepts are often expressed linguistically by the invention of circumlocutions or other substitutions for the word that expresses the concept directly (in this case, the verb to die), probably as a way of minimizing the power of the basic word for the concept. It is interesting to compare how two different styles of language, formal and slang, avoid saying "die." More formal or elevated speech is full of euphemistic expressions such as breathe one's last, pass away, depart, expire, go to one's eternal reward, go the way of all flesh, and go to a better place. Many of these expressions try to cast death in a positive light, often with religious overtones. Speakers of slang are just as interested in avoiding the word die, partly for the same taboo-avoidance reasons and partly because of the general striving on the part of slang speakers to come up with novel expressions for old concepts. The result is a raft of irreverent expressions that are much more direct than the elevated onesbut not so direct as to actually say "die." These expressions often concentrate on a particular physical aspect of dying, lending them an unusually vivid quality: croak, go belly up, kick the bucket, cash in one's chips, bite the dust, eat it, crap out.

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breathe

Verb

[breathing, breathed]

1. to take in oxygen and give out carbon dioxide; respire

2. to exist; be alive

3. to rest to regain breath or composure

4. (esp. of air) to blow lightly

5. to exhale or emit: the dragon breathed fire

6. to impart; instil: a change that breathed new life into Polish industry

7. to speak softly; whisper

8. breathe again or freely or easily to feel relief

9. breathe one's last to die

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	breathe - draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs; "I can breathe better when the air is clean"; "The patient is respiring" take a breath, suspire, respire respire - undergo the biomedical and metabolic processes of respiration by taking up oxygen and producing carbon monoxide respire - breathe easily again, as after exertion or anxiety respire - breathe easily again, as after exertion or anxiety choke - breathe with great difficulty, as when experiencing a strong emotion; "She choked with emotion when she spoke about her deceased husband" hyperventilate - breathe excessively hard and fast; "The mountain climber started to hyperventilate" hiccough, hiccup - breathe spasmodically, and make a sound; "When you have to hiccup, drink a glass of cold water" sigh, suspire - heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily; "She sighed sadly" breathe out, exhale, expire - expel air; "Exhale when you lift the weight" breathe in, inhale, inspire - draw in (air); "Inhale deeply"; "inhale the fresh mountain air"; "The patient has trouble inspiring"; "The lung cancer patient cannot inspire air very well" wheeze - breathe with difficulty yawn - utter a yawn, as from lack of oxygen or when one is tired; "The child yawned during the long performance" saw logs, saw wood, snore - breathe noisily during one's sleep; "she complained that her husband snores" breathe in, inhale, inspire - draw in (air); "Inhale deeply"; "inhale the fresh mountain air"; "The patient has trouble inspiring"; "The lung cancer patient cannot inspire air very well" breathe out, exhale, expire - expel air; "Exhale when you lift the weight"
	2.	breathe - be alive; "Every creature that breathes" subsist, exist, survive, live - support oneself; "he could barely exist on such a low wage"; "Can you live on $2000 a month in New York City?"; "Many people in the world have to subsist on $1 a day"
	3.	breathe - impart as if by breathing; "He breathed new life into the old house" instill, transfuse - impart gradually; "Her presence instilled faith into the children"; "transfuse love of music into the students"
	4.	breathe - allow the passage of air through; "Our new synthetic fabric breathes and is perfect for summer wear" be - have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer"
	5.	breathe - utter or tell; "not breathe a word" give tongue to, utter, express, verbalise, verbalize - articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise; "She expressed her anger"; "He uttered a curse"
	6.	breathe - manifest or evince; "She breathes the Christian spirit" convey - make known; pass on, of information; "She conveyed the message to me"
	7.	breathe - take a short break from one's activities in order to relax catch one's breath, take a breather, rest intermit, pause, break - cease an action temporarily; "We pause for station identification"; "let's break for lunch"
	8.	breathe - 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" oxidise, oxidize, oxidate - add oxygen to or combine with oxygen
	9.	breathe - expel (gases or odors) emit, pass off belch, burp, eruct, bubble - expel gas from the stomach; "In China it is polite to burp at the table" force out - emit or cause to move with force of effort; "force out the air"; "force out the splinter" give forth, emanate, exhale - give out (breath or an odor); "The chimney exhales a thick smoke" eject, expel, release, exhaust, discharge - eliminate (a substance); "combustion products are exhausted in the engine"; "the plant releases a gas" radiate - send out real or metaphoric rays; "She radiates happiness" bubble - form, produce, or emit bubbles; "The soup was bubbling"

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breathe

verb 1. inhale and exhale, pant, gasp, puff, gulp, wheeze, respire, draw in breath

verb 2. whisper, say, voice, express, sigh, utter, articulate, murmur

verb 3. instil, inspire, pass on, inject, impart, infuse, imbue

Translations

breathe [briːð] vt, vi → respirar;

(noisily) → resollar;

I won't breathe a word about it → no diré ni una palabra de ello

breathe in vt, vi → aspirar

breathe out vt, vi → espirar

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breathe [briːð] vt, vi → respirer;

I won't breathe a word about it → je n'en soufflerai pas mot, je n'en dirai rien à personne

breathe in vi → inspirer

vt → aspirer

breathe out vt, vi → expirer

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breathe [briːð] vt, vi → atmen;

I won't breathe a word about it → ich werde kein Sterbenswörtchen darüber sagen

breathe in vt, vi → einatmen

breathe out vt, vi → ausatmen

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breathe [briːð] vt, vi → respirare;

I won't breathe a word about it → non fiaterò

breathe in vi → inspirare

vt → respirare

breathe out vt, vi → espirare

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breathe

v breathe [briːð]

1 to draw in and let out (air etc) from the lungs He was unable to breathe because of the smoke; She breathed a sigh of relief. asemhaal, sug van verligting يتنفس дишам dýchat ånde atmen αναπνέω respirar hingama نفس کشیدن hengittää respirer לִנשוֹם सांस लेना disati lélegzik bernapas anda respirare; emettere 呼吸する 숨쉬다 kvėpuoti, atsikvėpti atviegloti nopūsties bernafas ademen puste; trekke pusten; ånde oddychać respirar a respira дышать dýchať dihati disati andas หายใจ nefes almak, solumak 呼吸 дихати سانس لینے کا عمل thở ra 呼吸

2 to tell (a secret) Don't breathe a word of this to anyone. geen woord teenoor enigiemand laat val nie يتفوه بكلمه، ينبس казвам тайна vyzradit røbe (kein Sterbenswörtchen) sagen μαρτυρώ (ένα μυστικό) soplar, revelar hingama گفتن؛ افشا کردن hiiskua souffler לִפלוֹט राज की बात कहना suzdržati se od govora egy szót se róla! memberitahukan segja frá (leyndarmáli) fiatare 言う 말하다 prasitarti izdvest (skaņu); atklāt (noslēpumu) beritahu verklappen fortelle, si bort (en hemmelighet) pisnąć contar a sufla обмолвиться vyzradiť šepetati reći knysta om บอก (ความลับ) söylemek 吐露 говорити тихо بتانا nói lộ ra 吐露

n breather

a short rest or break from work etc I must have a breather before I do any more. rustydjie, blaaskans استراحه، متنفس кратка почивка oddych hvil; pause die Atempause σύντομη ανάπαυλα, διάλειμμα respiro, descanso hingetõmbeaeg استراحت؛ تنفس lepotauko (moment de) répit הַפסָקָה קצָרָה अल्पविराम stanka, pauza pihenő istirahat stundarhlé, pása attimo di respiro, breve sosta 一休み 잠깐의 휴식 atokvėpio valandėlė īsa atelpa rehat sekejap pauze pause, pusterom chwila wytchnienia pausa (moment de) respiro короткая передышка oddych predah predah andningspaus การพักผ่อนระยะสั้น teneffüs, mola 短暫的休息 коротка передишка آرام کے لئے سانس لینے کا وقفہ thời gian nghỉ xả hơi 短暂的休息