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Glite Dictionary
to breathe down someone's neck

to breathe down someone's neck

14 7.5
To watch or pressure someone closely so they feel nervous
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : estar encima de alguien
  • There was no time for me to write a card, with you breathing down my neck all day.
  • got the boss breathing down my neck
  • boss breathing down my neck
  • stop breathing down my neck

Examples

  • I've got two big deadlines breathing down my neck and a bunch of materials to get designed and printed for an upcoming conference.

    Blog text (13)

  • I want to get an early start tomorrow—the carpenters are breathing down my neck.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • People are breathing down my neck.

    Fred Claus (2007)

  • Stop breathing down my neck!

    Do the Right Thing (1989)

  • I could not have done it without them breathing down my neck.

    Blog text (21)

  • Simon is breathing down my neck.

    Tower Heist (2011)

  • I've got city officials breathing down my neck to get a break in this case.

    Mayhem Park (2018)

  • It would be fine if you weren't breathing down my neck.

    My Mom's New Boyfriend (2008)

  • They're breathing down our necks.

    Edge of Extinction (2020)

  • I feel like my manager is always breathe down someone's neck whenever I'm working on a project.

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

How Intrusive

to harass
302 4.0
to breathe down someone's neck
  • Informal
14 7.5
to monitor
627 3.5
to watch
∞ 1.0
to keep an eye on
  • Informal
408 2.4

Surface Forms

breathe down someone's neck infinitive
breathed down someone's neck past
breathed down someone's neck past participle
breathing down someone's neck present participle
breathes down someone's neck third person singular

Morphology

breathe + down + someone's + neck

The phrase evokes a clear literal image — someone breathing down another's neck — which signals physical closeness, pressure, and intrusion, so a learner who knows 'breathe', 'down', and 'neck' can likely infer a meaning like 'closely watch or pressure' through metaphorical extension. However, the idiomatic sense of monitoring or pressuring is not fully compositional and requires pragmatic/cultural inference, making it only partially predictable.

Etymology

Breathe down someone's neck comes from the image of a person standing so close behind you that you feel their breathe on your neck. That close, pressing feeling makes you feel watched and nervous, so the phrase means 'to closely watch or pressure' someone.