breath

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The air that you take into your lungs and let out again.

   I took a deep breath and dived into the pool.

2. 2
   noun

   A single act of breathing in or out.

   She paused to catch her breath after running up the stairs.

3. 3
   noun

   The air sent out from the mouth, especially as something you can smell.

   His breath smelled strongly of coffee.

4. 4
   noun

   A very slight movement of air.

   There wasn't a breath of wind on that hot afternoon.

From Middle English breeth, breth, from Old English brǣþ (“odor, scent, stink, exhalation, vapor”), from Proto-West Germanic *brāþi (“vapour, waft, exhalation, breath”) (compare German Brodem (“haze, vapor; breath”), of a different but related formation).

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