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chestful

6.6

A deep breath that fills the lungs with air

noun
/ˈʧɛstfəl/

: pulmonada

Feeling exhausted, she paused to catch her breath, inhaling a chestful of crisp mountain air.

Examples

As he surfaced from the water, he gulped a chestful of air before diving back down.
After climbing to the top of the hill, she took a deep breath, filling her lungs with a chestful of fresh air.
Levidow snored deeply, sucking in a chestful of that exotic western New Jersey oxygen.

Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

breath

vschestful

∞ 1.0

Air taken in or pushed out of the lungs in one movement

means a larger inhaled amount rather than a normal single intake

deep breath

vschestful

205 2.2

To breathe in slowly and fully to help you relax

refers to the air quantity rather than the calming action

inhalation

vschestful

Specialized

24 4.1

Breathing air or gas into the lungs

focuses on the volume of air taken into the body rather than the action

lungful

vschestful

2 3.1

The air you take in one breath

refers to a larger amount taken during a deliberately deep intake

How Deep

chestful

6.6

breath

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

chestful singular

chestfuls plural

Morphology

chestful = chest (semi-transparent) = chest + ful

Formally 'chest' + suffix '-ful' is clear, but the sense 'a breath that fills the chest' is a metaphorical/metonymic extension that learners must know from usage.

Etymology

Chestful comes from chest, the front part of your body that holds your lungs, and the ending -ful meaning 'full of'. So a chestful is the amount of air that fills your chest when you take a deep breath, which is why we use it for a big breath of air.