respire Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb breathe easily again, as after exertion or anxiety
  2. verb undergo the biomedical and metabolic processes of respiration by taking up oxygen and producing carbon monoxide
  3. verb draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs
    breathe; take a breath; suspire.
    • I can breathe better when the air is clean
    • The patient is respiring

WordNet

Re*spire" intransitive verb
Etymology
L. respirare, respiratum; pref. re- re- + spirare to breathe: cf. F. respirer. See Spirit.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Respired present participle & verbal noun Respiring
Definitions
  1. To take breath again; hence, to take rest or refreshment. Spenser.
    Here leave me to respire. Milton.
    From the mountains where I now respire. Byron.
  2. (Physiol.) To breathe; to inhale air into the lungs, and exhale it from them, successively, for the purpose of maintaining the vitality of the blood.
Re*spire" transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To breathe in and out; to inspire and expire,, as air; to breathe.
    A native of the land where I respire The clear air for a while. Byron.
  2. To breathe out; to exhale. R. B. Jonson.

Webster 1913