Word.ws English Dictionary

hold one's breath

hold one's breath verb: used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hold, one's, breath. To keep air in one's lungs, pausing noticeably before exhaling after previously inhaling.

Verb

hold one's breath (third-person singular simple present holds one's breath, present participle holding one's breath, simple past and past participle held one's breath)

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hold, one's, breath. To keep air in one's lungs, pausing noticeably before exhaling after previously inhaling.
  2. (idiomatic, usually in a negative) To wait expectantly for something to happen soon.
    • He might pay back the money he borrowed without you reminding him, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
    • Petraeus hoped they would succeed, and lent his support, but he was not holding his breath.2008, Linda Robinson, Tell Me How This Ends: General David Petraeus and the Search for a Way Out of Iraq, page 271

hold one's breath meaning in Hindi, Tagalog and Vietnamese

hold one's breath in Hindi

to keep air in one's lungs, pausing noticeably before exhaling after previously inhaling
अपनी साँस रोकना apnī sā̃s roknā

hold one's breath in Tagalog

to keep air in one's lungs, pausing noticeably before exhaling after previously inhaling
magpigil ng hininga

hold one's breath in Vietnamese

to keep air in one's lungs, pausing noticeably before exhaling after previously inhaling
nín thở
to wait expectantly for something to happen soon
nín thở

Forms of hold one's breath

third-person singular presentholds one's breath
present participleholding one's breath
past participleheld one's breath
pastheld one's breath

Words formed from hold one's breath

Questions about hold one's breath

What does hold one's breath mean?
Hold one's breath means used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hold, one's, breath. To keep air in one's lungs, pausing noticeably before exhaling after previously inhaling.
What is hold one's breath in Hindi?
Hold one's breath in Hindi is अपनी साँस रोकना (apnī sā̃s roknā). See Hold one's breath meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is hold one's breath?
Hold one's breath is a verb.
What is the past tense of hold one's breath?
The past tense of hold one's breath is held one's breath.

Words near hold one's breath in the dictionary

  1. hold my milk
  2. hold off
  3. hold on
  4. hold on to your hat
  5. hold one's alcohol
  6. hold one's breath
  7. hold one's drink
  8. hold one's fire
  9. hold one's ground
  10. hold one's head above water
  11. hold one's head high

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hold one's breath (page history and authors). 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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-hold one's breath.ogg.

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