breathless with excitement
- idiom
:
sin aliento de emoción
- "Your wife called a few minutes ago, Mr. Loomis," she said, breathless with excitement.
Examples
-
"I found it!" Johnny cried, breathless with excitement.
Fiction book (1999) -
When I got my first images from Hubble, I was breathless with excitement.
Academic text (1996) -
After she had dropped him off for the last time, she came back to the room almost breathless with excitement.
Academic text (1993) -
This evening, a friend came by to borrow my car, but I could see she was literally breathless with excitement and in a rush.
Blog text (1) -
The friend with her giggled, breathless with excitement.
Fiction book (2000) -
"Where's the adventure?" Harriet was breathless with excitement.
Fiction book (1997) -
"I found it!" Johnny cried, breathless with excitement.
-
When I got my first images from Hubble, I was breathless with excitement.
-
August 14, the year she turned fifty-six, while she watched the first manned landing on Mars, he called, breathless with excitement.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Feeling very happy and eager about something
171
2.3
Feeling very excited and happy
69
4.5
Feeling very happy and excited
28
3.0
Very happy and excited to the point of feeling dizzy
21
6.5
Showing very strong excitement and uncontrolled actions
20
4.1
Very exciting or tense and causing strong surprise
14
7.7
Very excited and eager about something
6
4.3
Too active and noisy because of strong feelings
3
7.9
Feeling excited and a little nervous
2
4.4
Feeling very happy and full of energy
2
1.6
Very happy and eager about something
1
5.5
Very excited about something, often before it happens
1
7.0
Filled with a sudden rush of excitement and energy
Feeling very happy and excited
Full of lively energy because people feel excited
Very excited and unable to stay calm
Very excited and happy in an obvious way
Feeling very happy and eager about something that will happen
Feeling very happy and eager about something
Antonyms
How Excited
69
4.5
171
2.3
∞
1.0
936
1.0
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
breathless + with + excitement
The phrase combines the adjective 'breathless' (short of breath) with 'with excitement' so the meaning — being so excited that one is out of breath or overwhelmed by anticipation — is directly inferable from the constituents. This compositional pattern is common and would be clear to a B1 learner who knows the component words and the prepositional linking 'with'.
Etymology
The phrase breathless with excitement comes from the simple image of someone holding their breath or gasping while they wait for something exciting to happen. That's why it means 'so excited that you feel unable to breathe normally'.