breath

«breath» in Mova's school dictionary: the air that goes into and out of your lungs — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a breath, breaths; breath — uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Breath is the air that goes into and out of your lungs. tree →

2) A breath is one time of breathing in and out. tree →

3) «Out of breath» means breathing fast because you ran or worked hard. tree →

4) A breath of wind is a light movement of air. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science and health, breath carries oxygen in and carbon dioxide out; you can see your breath on cold days because the water in it condenses. In feelings lessons, «take a deep breath» helps you calm down. In swimming, «hold your breath» under water. Phrases: «take a deep breath», «hold your breath», «out of breath», «catch your breath», «under your breath» (very quietly), «a breath of fresh air» (something new and pleasant).

examples

• Take a deep breath and count to five. tree →
• I was out of breath after the race. tree →
• Hold your breath under the water. tree →
• You can see your breath when it's cold. tree →
• He said something under his breath. tree →
• Stop and catch your breath. tree →
• Brush your teeth for fresh breath. tree →
• The new teacher was a breath of fresh air. tree →
• On the hilltop he paused for breath. tree →

note

«Breath» (noun, short «e», rhymes with «death») vs «breathe» (verb, long «ee»): «Breathe in and take a breath». Uncountable for air, countable for one in-and-out.

In the corpora

• Blowing too hard makes a recorder jump up to a shrill squeal; a soft, steady breath gives a clear note.
• Nerves make breath short and the voice shaky, even in good singers; slow breathing before singing helps calm the voice.
• Warm-ups such as lip trills and humming help the breath and the voice muscles work without strain.
• Stage fright is very common, even for famous actors; slow deep breaths and good practice help.
• Whales breathe through a blowhole on top of the head, and the spout is warm wet breath forming a cloud of mist.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «breath» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.