breathe 
To breathe one's last, to die. 
He, safe return'd, the nice of glory past, 
Ni u to hU frieri.U eMihraee, ha>l l>nr/i <l hi* last. 
breathed (bretht), a. [< breath, n., + -crf2.] 1. 
Endowed with breath; exercised. 
A man so bivath'd. that certain hi' would tlcht, yea, 
From morn till niuht. ,s/i-., I.. L U, r. 2. 
If I he just, all praises must 
Be given to well A, r ,,/;,../ .lilum I hrust. 
fihiflfii, Hyde Park, iv. t. 
2. Out of breath. 
Mr. Tiilkiugliorn arrives In bis turret-room, a little 
bri'fttlirii hy the jonniey up. /><VAv//x, Itleak House, xli. 
3. In /ihilnl., uttered with breath as distin- 
guished from voice; surd or mute. 4. In com- 
pounds, having that capacity for breathing in- 
dicated by the prefix: as, uliort-bretitlml. 
breather (brfi'raer), . 1. One who breathes 
or lives. 
she shows a hoily rather than a life ; 
A statue, than a breather. Shak., A. and C., 111. :i. 
2. One who utters or whispers. 
for my authority bears of a credent hulk. 
That no particular scandal once can touch, 
But it confounds the breather. &hak.,VL. for M., iv. 4. 
3. One who animates or inspires. 
The breather of all life does now expire; 
His milder Father summons him away. A"< ' -. 
4. Anything, as a walk, gymnastic exercise, 
etc., that stimulates or gives healthy action to 
the breathing organs. [Colloq.] 
So here we are at last that hill's a breather. 
Caiman the Younger, Poor Gentleman, Iv. 11. 
breathfult (breth'ful), a. [< breath + -ful.~\ 
1. Full of breath : as, "the&raitf./Hbellowes," 
Spenser, F. Q., IV. v. 38. 2. Odorous; fra- 
grant. 
Fresh Costmarie and breathfull Camoiuill. 
Spenser, Mulopotmos, 1. 185. 
breathing (bre' wring), n. [< ME. brethynge, a 
current of air ; verbal n. of breathe, .] 1. Res- 
piration ; the act of inhaling and exhaling air : 
as, "a difficulty of breathing," Melmoth, tr. of 
Pliny, vi. 16. 
she sleeps : her breathings are not heard 
In palace chambers far apart. Tennyson, Day-Dream. 
2. Aspiration; secret prayer or desire. 
Earnest desires and breathings after that blessed state. 
Tillotson, Sermons, I. xxiv. 
3. Aerial motion ; respiratory action. 
There's not a breathing of the common wind 
That will forget thee. 
Wonlsuvrth, To Toussalnt 1'Ouverture. 
4. Figuratively, a gentle influence or opera- 
tion; inspiration : as, the breathings of the Spirit. 
The air 
Is like a breathing from a rarer world. X. P. Willis. 
5+. A breathing-place ; a vent. 
The warmth distends the chinks, and makes 
New breathin<fs, whence new nourishment she takes. 
Dryden. 
6. Physical exercise, from the fact that it calls 
the lungs into free play: as, the Oxford crew 
took their breathings every morning at ten. 
I lack breathing and exercise of late. Scoff. 
7. Utterance; words. 
I am sorry to give breathing to my purpose. 
Shak., A. and ('.. i. ::. 
8. Time taken to recover breath; hence, a 
stop ; a delay. 
Come, you shake the head at so long a breathing. 
Shak., Much Ado, II. 1. 
Give me a little breathing, till I can 
Be able to unfold what I have seen. 
Fletcher, Faithful Shepherdess, v. 3. 
Thou hast open'd our difficult and sad times, and given 
us an unexpected breathing after our long oppressions. 
Milton, Def. of Humb. Bemonst. 
9. Iii gram., aspiration or its absence, or a sign 
indicating it. In Greek there are two breathings 
the aspirate (si>iritus asper) or the rough breathing, indi- 
cated by a mark (') equivalent to onr letter h, and the lenis 
(spiritm leniit) or the smooth breathing ('), Indicating 
simply tiic absence of the rough. Thus it is equal to has, 
but i to is. Breathing capacity. See capacity. 
breathing-hole (bre'THing-hol), . 1. A vent- 
hole, as in a cask. 2. One of the spiracles or 
stigmata through which insects respire. Also 
called breathiiig-iiort: 3. The spiracle or blowy- 
hole of a cetacean. 4. A hole in the ice where 
an aquatic mammal, as a seal, comes up to 
breathe. 
breathing-mark (bre'THing-miirk), n. 1. In 
innxic, a small mark (*, ', or V) placed above a 
vocal score, indicating the point at which the 
singer may properly take breath. 2. Same as 
breathing-place (bre'THing-plas), n. 1. A 
place when- fivsh air can be breathed; a vent. 
48 
673 
Bach bough . . . finding sonx i I'lnre 
runout the other In , : 
tn, Klein, of Kiuwln. 
2. The place for a pause in a sentence or a 
poetic verse ; a cesura. 
That ca^nia, "r /<' /'//<// 
M /'. fiiilney, Defence of r.>.y. 
breathing-pore (l>re'<niing-p6r), . 1. In /</-//- 
Kin!., a microscopic apertun- I'm- the escape or 
admission of air, as in tho cuticle of plants. 
See HtuHiti. 2. Same as brutthing-hole, -. 
breathing-space (hre'Tlling-spaa), . Abreath- 
ing-time; an intermission of exertion. 
breathing-time (bre'THing-tim), n. Pause; 
relaxation. 
We may have some breathing-time between our promise 
and its accomplishment. Dp. Hall, Cases of Conscience. 
breathing-tube (bre'THing-tub), . Iu eiitmn.. 
the respiratory tube of certain aquatic larvie and 
dipterous puparia. It Is slender Integumental pro- 
longation, bearing at the tip one or both of the anal stig- 
mata, through which the Insect obtains air at the surface 
of the water or semifluid filth In which It lives. The breath- 
ing-tube Is also possessed hy ceitain adult heteropters. 
breathing-while (bre'THing-hvdl), n. An in- 
termission of exertion; a breathing-time. Shak. 
Except when for a breathing-while at eve. 
Some niggard fraction of an hour, he ran 
Beside the river-bank. Tenni/ion, Aylmer's Field. 
breathless (breth'les), a. [< ME. brethles; < 
breath + -less.'} 1. Without breath; dead. 
Denies the rites of funeral Bros to those 
Whose breathless bodies yet he calls his foes. 
Dryden, Pal. and Arc., 1. 84. 
2. Out of breath ; spent with labor or exertion. 
Unwounded from the dreadful close, 
But breathless all, Fltz-James arose. 
Scott, L. of the L., v. 16. 
3. That takes away the breath. 
How I remember that breathless flight ! 
Longfellow, Golden Legend, Iv. 
4. Marked by an apparent forgetfulness to 
breathe; absorbed; eager; excited. 
The young folks would crowd around the hearth, lis- 
tening with breathless attention to some old crone of a 
negro, who was the oracle of the family. 
Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 168. 
The holy time is quiet as a nun 
Breathless with adoration. 
n'ordtimrth, Misc. Sonnets, i. 30. 
breathlessness (breth'les-nes), n. The state 
of being breathless or out of breath with exer- 
tion; difficulty in breathing. 
breath-sound (breth'sound), n. In physiol., 
a sound caused by the movement of the air 
in the lungs in respiration. Also called respi- 
ratory murmur Cogged breath-sound, in i>athol., 
an interrupted or jerky respiratory sound, most marked 
in inspiration. Also called con-wheel respiration. 
breccia (brech'ia), M. [It., formerly also brec- 
chia, gravel, now technically breccia, = F. 
breche, connected with It. breccia = Sp. Pg. bre- 
cha, < F. breche, a breach ; all of Teut. origin : 
see breach, and cf. brash*, .] In geol., a con- 
glomerate in which the fragments, instead of 
Breccia. Polished Surface. 
being rounded or water-worn, are angular. The 
term is most frequently applied to volcanic masses made 
up of fragments which nave become consolidated into rock 
before becoming rounded by friction against each other 
or by the action of water. 
brecciated (brech'i-a-ted), a. [< breccia -f 
./,.! + -<>rf2.] Having the character of a breccia. 
According to Professor Ramsay the breedatett, sub- 
angular conglomerates and boulder beds of the Old Red 
Sandstone . . . are of glacial origin. 
J. Croll, Climate and Time, p. 294. 
brecciation (brech-i-a'shon), . [< breccia + 
-ntinii.'] The condition of being brecciated. 
See breccia. 
brecht, A Middle English form of breech. 
brecham (brech'am), . [Sc., also brechame; 
prob. of Celtic origin: cf. Gael, braigjideach, a 
horse's collar, braighdean, a cow's or calf's col- 
lar, = Ir. lirniijhdi-an, a collar, Gael, braidean, 
a little collar, dim. of braid, a horse-collar, a 
brecliam, = Ir. braid, a collar, < Gael. Ir. bra- 
ijliiul, nock, throat, windpipe.] A collar fora 
work-horse. [Scotch.] 
breech 
brechan, breckan < im-k'iin), . A Scotch form 
of lii-Ki-l:, n. 
breche't, n. An obsolete spelling of breech. 
breche-t, An obsolete spelling of breach. 
Brechites (bre-ki'tcz), . [ML., < Gr. fto 
ID wet : see /win, and cf. aspergillum .] Same 
as .t*/nri/illiim, -. 
breck (brek), H. [< MK. brrkke, var. of bri I . 
a break, breach, etc. : see breach, and cf. break, 
n., brick 1 , and brack 1 , all ult. < break, q. v.] If. 
A break; breach; fracture. Tuster. 
Swlche a falrenesse of a nekke 
Had that swete that bone nor brrkke 
Vj~ lh. i DOM! - M 
Chaueer, Death of Blanche, I. 940. 
2f. A bruise. Kersey, 1708. 3t. A breach; a 
gap in a hedge. 4. [Also called break; prop, 
land broken up and allowed to lie fallow.] A 
piece of uninclosed arable land ; a sheepwalk, 
if in grass. Halliwcll. [Prov. Eng.] 5. A 
large new-made inclosure. arose. [Prov. 
Eng.] 6. A field. [Suffolk, Eng.] 
The bird's chosen breeding-place was In wide field* 
breclu, as they are locally called of winter-corn. 
Encyc. Brit., IV. 878. 
breckan, . See brechan. 
breckins (brek'inz), n. A dialectal variant of 
bracken. 
bred 1 (bred). Preterit and past participle of 
breed. 
bred' 2 t, . An obsolete spelling of bread*. 
brede't, . and r. See bread^. 
brede-t, . See bread 3 , braid*. 
brede 3 t, r. *. [Early mod. E., < ME. breden, < 
AS. braxlan, roast: see brawn.'} To roast. 
bredge 1 , . An obsolete form of bridge*. 
bredge^t, r. t. See bridge*. 
bred-soret (bred'sor), n. A whitlow, or a sore 
coming without a wound or visible cause. Also 
called breeder. 
bree 1 (bre), M. [Sc., also brie, brue, broo, < ME. 
bre, full form breire, < AS. briic, also brig, a pot- 
tage of meal, pulse, etc., = Fries, bry = D. brij 
= MLG. bri, brig = OHG. brio, MHG. bri, brie, 
G. brei, broth, etc. Connection with breic*, v. 
(AS. breowan, etc. ), is doubtful.] Broth ; soup ; 
juice; sauce; water; moisture of any kind. 
[Scotch.] 
bree- (bre), n. A dialectal variant of bray*, 
brae. 
bree :i (bre), . t. [E. dial.] To frighten. Halli- 
iccll. [North. Eng.] 
bree 4 (bre), n. A dialectal variant of brow. 
breech (brech), n. [< ME. breech, breche, brech. 
also unassibilated breke, brek, prop. pi. and 
meaning 'breeches,' the covering of the breech 
(whence the double pL breeches, the now prev- 
alent form in that sense : see breeches), < AS. 
bree, also braic (pi. of the unrecorded sing. 
"6roc),breeches(the additional sense of 'breech,' 
given by Bosworth, rests on a doubtful trans- 
lation of a single passage). = OFries. brok, pi. 
brek, = D. broek = ULG.brok, LG. bnwk = OHG. 
bruoh, MHG. brnoch, G. bruch = Icel. brok, pi. 
bratkr, breeches (8w. bracka, breeches, brok, 
naut. , breeching), =ODan. brog, breeches, hose, 
Dan. brog, naut., breeching. Cf. L. brdca', pi., 
breeches (> It. braca = Sp. Pg. braga = Pr. 
braya = OF. brait, breeches, F. braie, a swad- 
dling-band, >E. bray& and brail, q. v.). regard- 
ed as of Celtic origin; cf. Bret, bragez ; but the 
Gael. Ir. brigi/t, breeches, is perhaps from E. 
The relation of the Teut. forms to the Celtic is 
uncertain.] If. Breeches. 
Tliyn oldo breech. Chaueer, Pardoner's Tale, 1. 480. 
That you might still have worn the petticoat, 
And ne'er have stol'n the breech from Lancaster. 
Shak., 3 Men. VI., T. &. 
2. The lower part of the body behind. 3. The 
hinder part of anything; specifically, the mass 
of metal behind the bore of a cannon, or the 
part of a small arm back of the barrel, including 
the rear of the latter in breech-loaders. 4. 
\niit.. the angle of a knee-timber, the inside of 
which is called the throat. 
breech (brech), r. [< breech, .] L trans. 1. 
To put into or clothe with breeches. 
Who was anxious to know whether the blacksmith's 
youngest boy was breeched. Macaulay, Hist Eng., xx. 
Have I not shaved my people, and breeched them? 
Laiulor. Peter the Great 
2. To cover to the breech or hilt. [Bare.] 
There, the murtherers, 
Steep'd in the colours of their trade, their daggers 
Unmannerly breeeh'd with gore. Shak.. Macbeth, U. S. 
(Various other readings and interpretations, such as rccch- 
ed (soiled with a dark yellow), itrfixhcit. thmlhed, etc. , hare 
been proposed by shaksperlan commentators.) 
