📒 to take air into your lungs and send it out again through your nose or mouth
- He breathed deeply before speaking again.
- The air was so cold we could hardly breathe.
- She was beginning to breathe more easily.
📒 to send air, smoke or a particular smell out of your mouth
- He came up close, breathing alcohol fumes all over me.
- (figurative) She rushed into my office breathing fire and threatening me with a lawyer.
📒 to say something quietly
- ‘I'm over here,’ she breathed.
- He breathed the words against her ear.
- ‘Where are you?’ breathed a voice in the dark.
📒 if you allow wine to breathe, you open the bottle and let air get in before you drink it
📒 if cloth, leather, skin, etc. can breathe, air can move around or through it
- Cotton clothing allows your skin to breathe.
📒 to be full of a particular feeling or quality
- Her performance breathed wit and charm.
📒 to feel calm again after something unpleasant or frightening has ended
- Once he was safely back in prison, she was able to breathe easily again.
📒 to watch closely what somebody is doing in a way that makes them feel anxious and/or annoyed
- I can’t get any work done with you breathing down my neck.
📒 to relax and stop worrying
- You can rest easy—I'm not going to tell anyone.
- I can sleep easy knowing that she's safely home.
📒 to die
📒 to improve something by introducing new ideas and making people more interested in it
- The results of their research have breathed new life into the debate.
- He hopes the development will breathe new life into the community.
- They need some new, younger staff to breathe some life into the company.
📒 to be very enthusiastic about something
- He just lives and breathes football.