# breath

Pronunciation: say "BRETH" /bɹɛθ/

## Noun

1. A single act of drawing air into the lungs or pushing it back out.
   - Simple: A single time when you take air into your body or push it back out.
   - _Take a long breath and hold it for five seconds._
   - _The runner's breaths came in short bursts after the sprint._
2. The act or process of taking air into and out of the lungs.
   - Simple: The way you take air in and out to stay alive.
   - _Meditation often begins with quiet attention to the breath._
   - _His breath grew shallow as the illness progressed._
3. The air pushed out of the lungs during exhalation.
   - Simple: The air that comes out of your body when you breathe out.
   - _The cold turned everyone's breath into little clouds._
   - _He fogged the window with his breath and drew a smiley face._
4. A short rest or pause.
   - Simple: A short break or pause.
   - _After the long meeting, the team took a breath before the next task._
   - _There was barely a breath between the two acts of the play._
5. A slight amount of something, such as a faint breeze or a little common sense.
   - Simple: A very small amount of something, such as a light wind.
   - _Not a breath of air stirred the leaves in the heavy heat._
   - _The new manager brought a breath of common sense to the chaotic office._

## Adjective

6. Of a speech sound, produced without vibration of the vocal cords; voiceless, contrasting with voiced sounds.
   - Simple: Made with air only, without the voice: like the soft 's' sound.
   - _In a whisper, all the consonants turn into breath sounds._
   - _Linguists classify /f/ and /s/ as breath sounds._

## Noun

7. Fragrance or scent given off by something; a sweet exhalation. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A sweet smell that comes from something, such as a flower.
   - _The breath of the lilies drifted across the moonlit terrace._
   - _Every evening the orchard released its gentle breath of ripening fruit._
8. Gentle exercise that quickens one's breathing. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Light exercise that makes you breathe a little faster.

## Origin

From Middle English breeth, from Old English brǣþ ("odor, scent, exhalation, vapor"), from Proto-West Germanic *brāþi ("vapour, waft, exhalation, breath"), related to German Brodem ("haze, vapor; breath").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/breath (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).