[f. BREATHE v.]
1. Exhalation and inhalation of breath; respiration; a single act of respiration.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XI. 349. Some bryddes at þe bille þorwgh brethynge conceyued.
1608. Hieron, Wks., I. 736. Forsake mee not, I pray thee, in my last breathing.
1611. Shaks., Cymb., II. ii. 18. ’Tis her breathing that Perfumes the Chamber thus.
1691. Wood, Ath. Oxon., I. 260. Our author … surrendred up his last breathings in his house in Magd. Parish.
1815. Scott, Ld. of Isles, II. xxx. His breathing came more thick and fast.
1842. Tennyson, Day-Dream, 93.
| She sleeps: her breathings are not heard | |
| In palace chambers far apart. |
b. The time in which a breath is drawn; a very short time.
1625. F. Markham, Bk. Hon., V. iv. § 1. Though it be but for a breathing, or short time.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, III. vi. 116. It was there only for the breathing of a second.
c. Power of retaining the breath, ‘wind.’
1667. Oldenburg, in Phil. Trans., II. 431. Pearl-fishers are fed with dry and rosted meat, to give them better breathing.
d. fig. Influence, inspiration.
1587. Golding, De Mornay, v. 56. The very benefitte which we receiue by his loue, is secret and insensible through breathing which worketh in us.
1878. B. Taylor, Deukalion, I. ii. 23. Over all things huge and coarse There came the breathing of a regal sway.
† 2. Time to breathe, respite, pause, rest. Obs.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, III. ii. 88. One troupe … ready to second another, and to giue breathing one to another.
1641. J. Jackson, True Evang. T., I. 32. The Church had no breathing for whole twenty yeares together.
1687. Lond. Gaz., No. 2262/1. Having received some breathing by a Proclamation.
3. Exercise taken to stimulate the respiratory organs; a breather.
1755. Mem. Capt. P. Drake, iv. 30. I used to go often … to take a Breathing with his Scholars.
1865. Morning Star, 2 Feb. The Oxonians … took their first ‘breathing’ over the course from Oxford to Iffley and back this afternoon.
4. Utterance, divulgence.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., I. iii. 14. I am sorry to giue breathing to my purpose.
1611. Bible, Lament. iii. 55. Hide not thine eare at my breathing, at my crie.
5. Aspiration (after), longing (for).
a. 1652. J. Smith, Sel. Disc., IV. 109. Those breathings and gaspings after an eternal participation of him.
1805. D. Johnston, Serm. for Blind, 39. A pious mind can meditate upon God and send up holy breathings towards him.
1852. Tupper, Proverb. Philos., 205. Ye commune of hopes and aspirations, the fervent breathings of the heart.
6. Of the wind: Gentle blowing.
1635. Swan, Spec. M., v. § 2 (1643), 170. Redness of the skie … declare[s] that some spirits or windie breathings are above.
1781. Cowper, Retirement, 530. The breathings of the lightest air that blows.
1802. Wordsw., Sonn., To Toussaint L’Ouverture, 11.
| There’s not a breathing of the common wind | |
| That will forget thee. |
† 7. Ventilation; a place for air or vapor to escape, a vent, air-hole. Obs.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, Rolls Ser. II. 75. Stues … wiþ streite side weies of breþynge [lateralibus angustiis spiraculi viis].
1480. Caxton, Descr. Brit., 17. Weyes of brething that wonderly cast vp hete.
1483. Cath. Angl., 43. A Brethynge, spiraculum, spiramen.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 131. The Warmth … makes New Breathings, whence new Nourishment she takes.
8. The opening of a vein in order to let blood.
1612. Woodall, Surg. Mate, Wks. (1653), 328. By breathing of a Veine … the partie hath bin recovered.
1641. R. L’Estrange, Relaps’d Apostate, Introd. 4. Breathing of a Vein with a Dog-whip.
1719. D’Urfey, Pills (1872), I. 87. Till the breathing a Vein Corrects the mad Pulse into Quiet.
9. Gram. An aspiration, an aspirate: spec. (Gr. πνεῦμα, L. spiritus) in Greek grammar, the two signs, (‘) or ‘rough breathing,’ and (’) or ‘smooth breathing,’ which indicate respectively the presence and absence of the aspirate. See also ASPER sb.1, ASPIRATE sb. 2, ASPIRATION 6.
1746. T. Nugent, trans. Port Royal Gr. Gram. The Grammarians call breathing (πνεῦμα) the manner of breathing a Syllable in pronouncing it. These breathings are twofold; one soft and smooth … thus ἐγὼ…. The other rough and hard … thus ἄμα.
1864. Athenæum, No. 1934. 672/2. The text is furnished with breathings and accents.
1875. Scrivener, Lect. Grk. Test., 20. Breathings and accents were added, at first very irregularly.
10. Comb. and Attrib., as breathing-fit, a breathing-space, pause, rest; breathing-hole, a hole or vent for air; breathing-part, -place, a place or opening for breathing; a pause; breathing-pore, a minute opening for the passage of air, a spiracle or stoma; breathing-space, room or time to breathe; so breathing-spell, -time, -while.
1589. Tri. Love & Fort., III. in Hazl., Dodsl., VI. 195. Here is a *breathing-fit after hard mischance.
1805. Wordsw., Waggoner, I. 37. Many a breathing-fit he takes.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong., Naseaux … the *breathing holes of the nose, the nosethrill.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., I. xiii. 141. They had worked numerous breathing-holes … in the solid ice.
1644. Bulwer, Chiron., 44. To distinguish the Comma’s and *breathing parts of a sentence.
1382. Wyclif, Prov. xx. 27. The lanterne of the Lord the *brething place [Vulg. spiraculum] of a man.
1581. Sidney, Apol. Poetrie (Arb.), 71. That Cæsura or breathing place in the middest of the verse.
1768. G. White, Selborne, 40. The head of a fallow-deer … furnished with two spiracula, or breathing-places besides the nostrils.
1836. Penny Cycl., V. 374/1. *Breathing-pores … are formed by the juxtaposition of two cells.
1650. R. Stapylton, Strada’s Low-C. Warres, v. 130. They gave her jealousies a short *breathing-space.
1842. Tennyson, Locksley H., 167. There the passions cramp’d no longer shall have scope and breathing-space.
1878. Bosw. Smith, Carthage, 247. He had at least given her a brief breathing space.
1599. Sandys, Europæ Spec. (1632), 192. Some *breathing time to revive himselfe, after his wearinesse.
1873. Symonds, Grk. Poets, iii. 68. Here was a breathing-time of indecision and suspense.
1593. Shaks., Ven. & Ad., 1142. It shall … Bud and be blasted in a *breathing-while.
1873. Browning, Red Cott. Nt.-cap, 416. Turn round and look about, a breathing-while!
