Standard Lemma guide

hyperventilate

verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To breathe quickly and deeply, especially at an abnormally rapid rate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

breathe excessively hard and fast

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The mountain climber started to hyperventilate

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: breathe, take a breath, respire, suspire

3

verb

Meaning 3

produce hyperventilation in

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The nurses had to hyperventilate the patient

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: treat, care for

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Hellenic *hupér Ancient Greek ῠ̔πέρ (hŭpér) Ancient Greek ῠ̔περ- (hŭper-)der. English hyper- English ventilate English hyperventilate From hyper- + ventilate.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: hiperventilar — to breathe quickly and deeply
  • Chinese Mandarin: 過度換氣 /过度换气 (guòdù huànqì) — to breathe quickly and deeply
  • Czech: hyperventilovat — to breathe quickly and deeply
  • Esperanto: anheli — to breathe quickly and deeply
  • Finnish: hyperventiloida — to breathe quickly and deeply
  • German: hyperventilieren — to breathe quickly and deeply
  • Hebrew: התנשם — to breathe quickly and deeply
  • Portuguese: hiperventilar — to breathe quickly and deeply
  • Spanish: hiperventilar — to breathe quickly and deeply
  • Swedish: hyperventilera — to breathe quickly and deeply