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

to breathe

31 3.7
To let air pass through a material
  • verb
  • /briːð/
  • Specialized
translation icon : 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
12 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
∞ 3.0

To stop movement, access, or progress

Idioms

to breathe a word
  • Informal
12 6.3

To tell someone a secret that should be kept

to breathe a sigh of relief
  • Informal
12 2.5

To feel very relieved after a time of worry

to live and breathe
  • Informal
9 4.8

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

to breathe one's last
  • Literature
2 7.9

To stop living

Phrasal Verbs

to breathe in
54 1.0

To take air into your lungs through your nose or mouth

to breathe down someone's neck
  • Informal
14 7.5

To watch or pressure someone closely so they feel nervous

to breathe out
8 1.0

To push air out of your lungs

to breathe easy
  • Informal
5 3.4

To feel relaxed and relieved after a worrying time

How Breathable

to ventilate
12 4.4
to breathe
  • Specialized
31 3.7
to choke
  • Specialized
33 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.