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to faint

to faint

151 3.2
Lose consciousness for a short time
  • verb
  • /feɪnt/
translation icon : desmayarse
  • After standing for a long time in the heat, she began to feel lightheaded and was afraid she would faint.

She runs into the garden, she faints, he saves her.

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Examples

  • The day we visited the Accademia, a girl fainted from the apparently unbearable beauty of the statue above her.

    Academic text (2002)
  • But she fainted before I got to her!

  • The girl looked as if she might faint at any moment.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • I think I'm going to faint.

  • NormaIIy I get so nervous that I faint... or run away or sometimes I even get sick.

  • Sometimes, I fainted and was carried off to an emergency center.

    Academic text (2016)
  • Tony has an anxiety disorder, causing him to faint, brought on by stressful family situations.

    Academic text (2014)
  • As a teenager in the late 1960s, Sarah had anorexia and began to lose weight and faint fairly frequently.

    Academic text (2015)
  • When my mother Ethel, after her delivery, was told I was a gift, she fainted.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Don't faint on me.

Synonyms

to pass out
vsto faint
188 3.7

To faint or lose consciousness suddenly

loses consciousness because of temporary low blood flow to the brain
to black out
vsto faint
46 5.4

To suddenly lose consciousness for a short time

usually follows temporary reduced brain blood flow rather than external injury
to swoon
vsto faint
27 7.7

To faint because of strong emotion or physical weakness

occurs from short lack of blood to the brain rather than emotion
out like a light
vsto faint
  • Informal
7 7.3

To fall asleep or become unconscious very quickly

describes brief unconsciousness caused by short reduced brain blood flow
to conk
vsto faint
  • Slang
6 9.0

To suddenly faint or fall unconscious

is a brief medical loss of consciousness from temporary low brain blood flow

Antonyms

73 1.8

To stop sleeping or make someone else wake up

71 4.1

To make a person conscious again after fainting

Idioms

Give a weak compliment that sounds positive but actually criticizes someone

Compounds

4 7.4

A weak comment that shows little real approval and may seem like a criticism

A small criticism that sounds like praise

A very quiet sound someone makes when they take a step

How Unconscious

to black out
46 5.4
to pass out
188 3.7
to faint
151 3.2

Surface Forms

faint infinitive
fainted past
fainted past participle
fainting present participle
faints third person singular

Etymology

Faint as a verb comes from old French feint and Latin fingere, 'to pretend' or 'to make', with the idea of becoming weak; a helpful image is someone becoming so weak that they go limp. So, to faint is to lose consciousness for a short time.