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Glite Dictionary
🌬️ To take air in ☕ To take a break ❤️ To be alive ✨ To give feeling 👃 To give off odor 🤫 To say quietly 🧵 To let air pass 🍷 To air wine
to breathe

to breathe

5 3.7
To let air pass through a material
  • verb
  • /briːð/
  • Specialized
: transpirar
  • David hopped out into the thin Martian atmosphere, far too light for humans to breathe.

I'm going to let my skin just breathe and look like skin and just be.

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Examples

  • Specializations in their skin, mouth, and gill chambers allow mudskippers to breathe both in water and in air.

    Academic text (2002)

  • A great reuse plan, one which will breathe much-needed life and restored character to this area.

    Blog text (17)

  • But make sure it has some air to breathe.

    Chupacabra Terror (2005)

  • These corsets are so tight, I can hardly breathe.

    In Old Chicago (1938)

  • Cleansing away all of this will provide your skin a chance to breathe and recuperate.

    Blog text (20)

  • The jeans let her breathe and move; they gently hugged her hips and nuzzled her knees.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Painfully, Tim loosened the saddle cinch so the horse could breathe easier, his fingers so stiff they couldn't feel the sweat-soaked leather.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The fabric is designed to allow moisture to escape, so it can breathe easily during workouts.

  • These shoes are made with a mesh upper that helps your feet breathe and stay cool.

  • If you want your clothes to last longer, make sure to use materials that breathe well to prevent mildew.

Synonyms

to ventilate
vsto breathe
16 4.4

To let fresh air into a room so it is not stuffy

is a passive property of fabric, letting air pass through not causing circulation

Antonyms

to block
989 3.0

To stop movement, access, or progress

Idioms

to live and breathe
  • Informal
17 4.8

To be very excited about something and always make it a main part of life

to breathe a sigh of relief
  • Informal
16 2.5

To feel very relieved after a time of worry

to breathe a word
  • Informal
13 6.3

To tell someone a secret that should be kept

to breathe one's last
  • Literature
1 7.9

To stop living

Phrasal Verbs

to breathe in
96 1.0

To take air into your lungs through your nose or mouth

to breathe out
36 1.0

To push air out of your lungs

to breathe down someone's neck
  • Informal
30 7.5

To watch or pressure someone closely so they feel nervous

to breathe easy
  • Informal
18 3.4

To feel relaxed and relieved after a worrying time

How Breathable

to ventilate
16 4.4
to breathe
  • Specialized
5 3.7
to choke
  • Specialized
4 5.3

Surface Forms

breathe infinitive
breathed past
breathed past participle
breathing present participle
breathes third person singular

Morphology

breathe = breath (transparent) = breath + e

Applied sense for materials ('to allow air to pass') is a straightforward extension of the physiological sense and is commonly understandable.

Etymology

Breathe is used for materials that let air pass through because they allow breath-like air to move, just as your lungs need air. So a fabric that 'breathes' lets air through to keep you cool and dry.