breath

breath
breath S3 W2 /breθ/ noun1.
  a. [uncountable] the air that you send out of your lungs when you breathe:
    Leo could smell the wine on her breath.
    Let your breath out slowly.
  b. [uncountable] air that you take into your lungs:
    When he reached the top of the stairs, his heart was pounding and he was gasping for breath.
  c. [countable] an amount of air that you take into your lungs:
    Shaun took a deep breath and dived in.
  ► Do not confuse the noun breath /breθ/ with the verb breathe /briːð/: She took a breath and continued. | I can’t breathe in here__
2. a breath of fresh air
  a. something that is new and different in a way you think is exciting and good:
    Osborne’s play brought a breath of fresh air to the British theatre.
  b. clean air outside, that you feel you need after being inside for a long time:
    I’m going outside for a breath of fresh air.
3. don’t hold your breath informal used to say that something is not going to happen soon:
    The system’s due for an update, but don’t hold your breath.
4. catch your breath (also get your breath back) to start breathing normally again after running or making a lot of effort:
    Slow down, I need to catch my breath.
5. don’t waste your breath (also save your breath) spoken used to say that someone will not be able to persuade someone else, so there is no point in trying:
    Save your breath. She’s already made up her mind.
    Will he listen to me or will I just be wasting my breath?
6. take sb’s breath away to be extremely beautiful or exciting:
    The view from the top will take your breath away.
7. under your breath in a quiet voice so that no one can hear you:
    ‘Son of a bitch,’ he muttered under his breath.
8. in the same breath
  a. (also in the next breath) used to say that someone has said two things at once that are so different from each other they cannot both be true:
    He criticized the film, then predicted in the same breath that it would be a great success.
  b. if you mention two people or things in the same breath, you show that you think they are alike or are related:
    I became nervous when the doctor mentioned my mother’s name and ‘cancer’ in the same breath.
    in the same breath as/with
    a young poet mentioned in the same breath as T.S. Eliot
9. with your last/dying breath at the moment when you are dying:
    With his last breath, he cursed his captors.
10. [singular] written a very small amount or a sign of something
    breath of
    They did everything they could to avoid the slightest breath of scandal.
11. a breath of air/wind literary a slight movement of air:
    Scarcely a breath of air disturbed the stillness of the day.
⇨ with bated breath at bated
     

COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs
   ▪ take a breath (=breathe in) Alex took a deep breath, then jumped into the pool.
   ▪ let your breath out (=breathe out) Let your breath out slowly and relax.
   ▪ hold your breath (=not breathe out for a few seconds or minutes) How long can you hold your breath underwater?
   ▪ be out of breath (=have difficulty breathing after running, hurrying etc) Andrew hurried in, slightly out of breath.
   ▪ be short of breath (=be unable to breathe easily because you are ill, old etc) Near the top of the mountain I started to feel short of breath.
   ▪ gasp/fight for breath (=have difficulty breathing) He was lying on the floor gasping for breath.
   ▪ get your breath back (also catch your breath) (=start breathing normally again) He leant against a tree until he had got his breath back.
   ▪ pause for breath She talked solidly for five minutes, hardly pausing for breath.
   ▪ draw breath written (=breathe) I hid behind the door, hardly daring to draw breath.
■ adjectives
   ▪ bad breath (=that smells unpleasant) Smoking gives you bad breath.
   ▪ a deep/long breath (=in which you breathe a lot of air in slowly) She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
   ▪ a shallow breath (=in which you breathe a small amount of air in) Shallow breaths are often a sign of nervousness.
■ phrases
   ▪ shortness of breath (=when you are unable to breathe easily) Symptoms include dizziness and shortness of breath.
   ▪ an intake of breath (=when you breathe in very quickly and suddenly, especially because you are surprised) He gave a sharp intake of breath. | His first response was a sharp intake of breath.