a. [See BREATHED II.] Long of breath. lit. and fig.
1568. Grafton, Chron., I. 132. His knightes were leane, pale, and long brethed, so that they might endure to fight long.
a. 1628. F. Grevil, Sidney, iv. (1652), 49. To negotiate with that long-breathed Nation [the Germans] proves commonly a work in steel, where many stroaks hardly leave any print.
1694. F. Bragge, Disc. Parables, xiii. 433. Whole armies of words, and legions of long-breath’d petitions.
1816, 1884. [see BREATHED ppl. a. 6].
1878. O. W. Holmes, Motley, i. 8. The long-breathed tenacity of purpose, which in after years gave effect to his brilliant mental endowments.
