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breathe

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verb British English pronunciation: breathe /briːð/ 
Word Forms
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present tense
I/you/we/theybreathe
he/she/itbreathes
present participlebreathing
past tensebreathed
past participlebreathed
  1. 1
    [intransitive/transitive] to take air into your lungs through your nose or mouth and let it out again

    He held her so tightly she could hardly breathe.

    We can no longer have confidence in the quality of the air we breathe.

    Doctors said he was having difficulty breathing.

    breathe deeply/hard/heavily (=take a lot of air into your lungs):

    She leant against the door, breathing deeply.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  breatheThesaurus entry for this meaning of breathe
    1. a.
      [transitive] to bring other substances into your mouth or lungs as you breathe

      I don’t want to breathe other people’s smoke.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  breatheThesaurus entry for this meaning of breathe
    2. b.
      [intransitive] to blow air from your mouth onto something
      breathe on:

      She breathed on her glasses then polished them on her shirt.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  breatheThesaurus entry for this meaning of breathe

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This is the British English definition of breathe. View American English definition of breathe.

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