noun
Meaning 1
Rest, respite.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
respire
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.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈspʌɪə/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American: /ɹɪˈspaɪɹ/
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rhymes with -aɪə(ɹ)
verb
Meaning 2
To breathe in and out successively.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: breathe, draw breath, inbreathe, spire, suspire
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To breathe in and out successively.
To recover one's breath or breathe easily following stress.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: breathe, draw breath, inbreathe, spire, suspire
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To take up oxygen and produce carbon dioxide (as animals do), or vice versa (as plants do).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Topics: biology, cytology, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: breathe
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To (inhale and) exhale; to breathe.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To recover hope, courage, or strength after a time of difficulty.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- I can breathe better when the air is clean
- The patient is respiring
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: breathe, take a breath, suspire
Antonyms: none provided
Narrower terms: respire, choke, hyperventilate, hiccup, hiccough, sigh, suspire, exhale, expire, breathe out, inhale, inspire, breathe in, wheeze, yawn, snore, saw wood, saw logs
verb
Meaning 8
undergo the biomedical and metabolic processes of respiration by taking up oxygen and producing carbon monoxide
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: undergo
verb
Meaning 9
breathe easily again, as after exertion or anxiety
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: breathe, take a breath, respire, suspire
History
Etymology
From Middle English respiren, borrowed from Old French respirer or Latin respīrō (“to blow back, breathe out”), from re- (“back”) + spīrō (“to breathe, blow”).
Across languages
Translations
5 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Czech: dýchat — to take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide and produce energy in the process
- Māori: tukupūngao — to take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide and produce energy in the process
- Czech: oddychovat — to recover one's breath following stress
- Czech: oddechnout si — to recover one's breath following stress
- German: verschnaufen — to recover one's breath following stress