Word.ws English Dictionary

respires

respires is the third-person singular simple present indicative of respire.

Meaning of respire

Verb

respire (third-person singular simple present respires, present participle respiring, simple past and past participle respired)

  1. (intransitive) To breathe in and out successively.
    1. (intransitive) 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
  2. (intransitive) 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
  3. (transitive) 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
  4. (archaic, intransitive) To recover hope, courage, or strength after a time of difficulty.

See all 6 meanings of respire

Questions about respires

What is respires the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Respires is the third-person singular simple present indicative of respire.

Words near respires in the dictionary

  1. respiratory tracts
  2. respire
  3. respired
  4. respirer
  5. respirers
  6. respires
  7. respirest
  8. respireth
  9. respiring
  10. respirings
  11. respirit

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: respires (page history and authors); respire (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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