with every breath
- idiom
- I will fight for you with every breath in my body.
Examples
-
Life sometimes can be so cruel that a heart will pray for death. God, why must these living dead know pain with every breath?
Fiction book (1990) -
That day and the next, forever, he limited his world to placing one step ahead of the next, calling Wolf with every breath.
Fiction book (1990) -
The dead return with every breath.
Fiction book (1999) -
The wrongness seemed to grow with every breath, every step forward they took.
Fiction book (1999) -
With every breath, we shall hunt them down. #CONNOR#
Fiction book (1999) -
He told his diary all about NanoCity and the pleasure of his first day at work, feeling himself getting healthier with every breath.
Fiction book (1999) -
Her cold-numbed feet dragged, her fingers ached, and with every breath of chill air, she felt her internal temperature sink a fraction of a degree.
Fiction book (1990) -
At first, I feel only relief from my narrow escape, but a pain—dull at first but sharper and more powerful with every breath—slices through my heart: I was terribly, terribly cruel to play such a charade on the girl.
Fiction book (1990) -
I will fight for you with every breath in my body.
-
I live for you with every breath.
Synonyms
Completely and sincerely, with full support and no doubts
Continuing without stopping in a strong, determined way
In a careful and steady way that shows hard work
In a way that shows steady energy and does not slow down
In a way that shows complete energy and strong commitment
You try very hard and do not give up
Firmly and without changing their mind
In a firm and determined way without changing your mind
In a way that does not stop
Shows firm determination that does not change
Without getting tired and not giving up
To act with strong effort and energy
Antonyms
How Persistent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'with' (accompanying), 'every' (each), and 'breath' (a unit of breathing), so a learner can infer it means doing something at each breath — i.e., constantly or all the time. Although often used as an emotional intensifier ('wholeheartedly'), that figurative use is a transparent, predictable extension of the literal sense, so a B1 learner who knows the words will grasp the intended meaning.
Etymology
With every breath comes from the simple image of using each breath of life to keep doing something; imagine a person who keeps fighting or loving until they no longer breathe. One popular image is that every breath counts, so saying with every breath means 'with complete effort' or 'all the time'.