respire
/ɹɪˈspʌɪə/US/ɹɪˈspaɪɹ/
respire verb: to breathe in and out successively.
Verb
respire (third-person singular simple present respires, present participle respiring, simple past and past participle respired)
- To breathe in and out successively.
- Synonyms:
- breathe, draw breath, inbreathe, spire, suspire
- To recover one's breath or breathe easily following stress.
- The breath of heav'n fresh-blowing, pure and sweet, / With day-spring born; here leave me to respire.1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 10–11
- Second Day.—Hold the breath five seconds. Respire, and hold the breath ten seconds. Respire, and hold the breath fifteen seconds.1888, Edmund Shaftesbury, Lessons in Artistic Deep Breathing for Strengthening the Voice, page 23
- To take up oxygen and produce carbon dioxide (as animals do), or vice versa (as plants do).
- All living things respire or breathe. To many of us this means that they take in oxygen and give out carbon dioxide.1964, H. Webb, M. A. Grigg, Modern Science, Book 3, page 155
- Synonyms:
- breathe
- To (inhale and) exhale; to breathe.
- It is my opinion, that these animals, while they continue in the state of larvae, respire water and not air; and that they inspire the water, not by the mask, but by their posterior part, through which also they discharge it.1799, M. Lesser, Insecto-Theology: Or, a Demonstration of the Being and Perfections of God, from a Consideration of the Structure and Economy of Insects, page 327
- They were the last moments he might ever respire near her, who was then doubtless wrapt in peaceful sleep, whilst he wandered distracted without.1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XI, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 139
- To recover hope, courage, or strength after a time of difficulty.
Noun
respire
respire meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Kannada
respire in Tamil
- மூச்சுவிடு, மூச்செறி, சுவாசி, பிராணி, உட்கொண்ட வாயுவை வெளியிற் போக்கு
respire in Urdu
- سانس لینا
respire in Kannada
- to respire
- ಉಸಿರಾಡು usirāḍu
Synonyms of respire
Forms of respire
| third-person singular present | respires |
|---|---|
| present participle | respiring |
| past participle | respired |
| past | respired |
Origin of respire
From Middle English respiren, borrowed from Old French respirer or Latin respīrō (“to blow back, breathe out”), from re- (“back”) + spīrō (“to breathe, blow”).
Words formed from respire
Words that rhyme with respire
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- choir
- desire
- esquire
- inspire
- tire
- acquire
- admire
- dire
- empire
- sire
- transpire
- trier
- dryer
- friar
- fryer
- gyre
- lyre
- mire
- misfire
- require
- underfire
- aspire
- bemire
- buyer
- conspire
- inquire
- overfire
- perspire
- quire
- tyre
- attire
- briar
- crier
- higher
- lier
- overtire
- Pryor
- pyre
- re-retire
- retrochoir
- rewire
- supplier
- suspire
- underwire
- unretire
- afire
- byre
- drier
Questions about respire
- What does respire mean?
- Respire means to breathe in and out successively.
- What is respire in Tamil?
- Respire in Tamil is மூச்சுவிடு, மூச்செறி, சுவாசி. See Respire meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is respire?
- Respire can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce respire?
- Respire is pronounced /ɹɪˈspʌɪə/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of respire?
- The past tense of respire is respired.
Words near respire in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: respire (page history and authors); respire (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); respire (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ಉಸಿರಾಡು (Kannada) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-respire.wav.
Cite this entry: “respire.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/respire. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.