inhaling

Verb

inhale (third-person singular simple present inhales, present participle inhaling, simple past and past participle inhaled)

1. (intransitive) To draw air into the lungs, through the nose or mouth by action of the diaphragm.
   • “Please. I’m starved.” Her gaze followed the man with the meatpies while she inhaled deeply, trying to hold onto the heavenly scent. […] “I find myself ravenous for meatpie.”1998, Katherine Greyle, Oracle: The Prophesy Fulfilled, Zephyr Cove, Nev.: LionHearted Publishing, Inc., →ISBN, pages 72 and 74

   Synonyms:

   breathe in, inbreathe, inspire

   Antonyms:

   breathe out, outbreathe, exhale, expire

2. (transitive) To draw air or any form of gas (either in a pure form, or mixed with small particles in the form of aerosols/smoke, sometimes stemming from a medicament) into the lungs, through the nose or mouth by action of the diaphragm.
   • […] this room, where misfortune seems to ooze, where speculation lurks in corners, and of which Madame Vauquer inhales the warm, fetid air without being nauseated.1878, Henry James, “Honoré de Balzac”, in French Poets and Novelists, London: Macmillan, II, p. 122

   Synonyms:

   breathe in, inbreathe, inspire, fetch

   Antonyms:

   breathe out, outbreathe, exhale

3. (figuratively, transitive) To eat very quickly.
   • She had also forgotten both diet and protocol as she joined Sven in guzzling large cokes, practically inhaling fries and gravy, and rounding off the meal with double malts.2014, Dee Disheau, Love in the Sand and the Snow, page 26

See all 4 meanings of inhale