breathing
Syllables: breath·ingUK/ˈbɹiːðɪŋ//ˈbɹiðɪŋ/
breathing noun: a diacritical mark indicating aspiration or lack thereof. Also the verbal noun of breathe.
Noun
breathing (countable and uncountable, plural breathings)
- A diacritical mark indicating aspiration or lack thereof.
- Time to recover one's breath; hence, a delay, a spell of time.
- DON PEDRO. Count Claudio, when mean you to go to church? / CLAUDIO. To-morrow, my lord. Time goes on crutches till love have all his rites. / LEONATO. Not till Monday, my dear son, which is hence a just seven-night; and a time too brief too, to have all things answer my mind. / DON PEDRO. Come, you...1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Any gentle influence or operation; inspiration.
- the breathings of the Holy Spirit
- Aspiration; secret prayer.
- Let us then begin Heaven here, in the Frame and Temper of our Minds, in our heavenly Affections and Converſation; in a due Prepation for, and in earneſt Deſires and Breathings after that bleſſed State vvhich vve firmly believe and aſſuredly hope to be one day poſſeſſed of: […]1683 June 3 (Gregorian calendar), John Tillotson, “Sermon XXIV. Preached at the Funeral of the Reverend Benjamin Whichcot, D.D. May 24, 1683. 2 Cor[inthians] V. 6.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend...
Adjective
breathing (not comparable)
Also used as
breathing is also the verbal noun of breathe.
breathing is also the present participle and gerund of breathe.
breathing meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Malayalam
breathing in Hindi
- act of respiration
- श्वसन śvasan, साँस लेना sā̃s lenā
breathing in Tamil
- act of respiration
- மூச்சு mūccu, உயிர்ப்பு uyirppu, சுவாசம் cuvācam
breathing in Marathi
- act of respiration
- श्वास śvās, श्वसन śvasan, श्वासोच्छ्वास śvāsocchvās
breathing in Malayalam
- act of respiration
- ശ്വസനം śvasanaṁ
More languagesFewer languages
- breathing in Punjabi
- ਸਾਹ ਲੈਣਾ
- breathing in Gujarati
- શ્વાસ લે છે
- breathing in Odia
- ନିଶ୍ୱାସ ପ୍ରଶ୍ୱାସ, ଶ୍ୱାସକ୍ରିଯ଼ା, ନିଃଶ୍ୱାସପ୍ରଶ୍ୱାସ
- breathing in Nepali
- सास फेर्ने
- breathing in Tagalog
- paghinga
- breathing in Arabic
- تَنَفُس tanafus, نَفَس nafas
- breathing in Persian
- تنفس tanaffos, نفس nafas
- breathing in Thai
- การหายใจ gaan-hǎai-jai
- breathing in Vietnamese
- sự hô hấp
Examples of breathing in a sentence
- Napoleon’s ashes are not yet extinguished, and we’re breathing in their sparks.
- With all the heavy breathing going on the windows were quickly steamed in the car.
- Don't stand around in there breathing the fumes while the adhesive cures.
Synonyms of breathing
Forms of breathing
| plural | breathings |
|---|
Origin of breathing
From breathe + -ing.
Words formed from breathing
- 444 breathing
- abdominodiaphragmatic breathing
- accessory breathing
- base-pair breathing
- belly breathing
- box breathing
- breathing apparatus
- breathing cave
- breathing time
- breathing while
- circular breathing
- deep breathing
- hand breathing
- heavy breathing
- Kussmaul breathing
- labored breathing
- low breathing
- mouthbreathing
- mouth breathing
- nasal breathing
- overbreathing
- rough breathing
- smooth breathing
- square breathing
- stagger breathing
- tubular breathing
Phrases with breathing
- breathing in
- breathing gas
- breathing out
- breathing easy
- breathing room
- breathing upon
- fire breathing
- breathing again
- breathing caves
- breathing gases
- breathing space
- breathing spell
13 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with breathing
Questions about breathing
- What does breathing mean?
- Breathing means a diacritical mark indicating aspiration or lack thereof.
- What is breathing in Hindi?
- Breathing in Hindi is श्वसन (śvasan), साँस लेना (sā̃s lenā). See Breathing meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is breathing?
- Breathing can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce breathing?
- Breathing is pronounced /ˈbɹiːðɪŋ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of breathing?
- The plural of breathing is breathings.
Words near breathing in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: breathing (page history and authors); breathing (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); breathing (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); breathing (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); breathing (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-breathing.wav.
Cite this entry: “breathing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/breathing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.