exhale
Americanverb (used without object)
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to emit breath or vapor; breathe out.
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to pass off as vapor; pass off as an effluence.
verb (used with object)
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to breathe out; emit (air, vapor, sound, etc.).
to exhale a sigh.
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to give off as vapor.
The engine exhaled steam.
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to draw out as a vapor or effluence; evaporate.
verb
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to expel (breath, tobacco smoke, etc) from the lungs; breathe out
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to give off (air, vapour, fumes, etc) or (of air, vapour, etc) to be given off; emanate
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of exhale
1350–1400; Middle English exalen < Latin exhālāre, equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + hālāre to breathe
Explanation
When you breathe, you inhale and exhale. In other words, you breathe in and out. When you breathe out, you exhale. If you exhale on a cold winter day, your breath looks like smoke in the frigid air. Yoga classes, with their emphasis on breathing, involve a lot of inhaling and exhaling. When you exhale, your lungs push air out, reducing the carbon dioxide in your body and making room for you to inhale oxygen. The Latin root exhalare combines ex, "out," and halare, "breathe."
Vocabulary lists containing exhale
Power Prefix: ex-
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The Landry News
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Flying to the Moon
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Flack's music has been a staple in Black culture and film, especially in the 1995 Forest Whitaker classic, "Waiting to Exhale."
From Salon • Feb. 24, 2025
Jan. 7: "The Great Exhale" sparks a nationwide frenzy for mouthwash.
From Washington Post • Dec. 30, 2021
The siblings have also spent a few days filming the music video for Ziegler's newest song, Exhale, on their iPhones.
From BBC • Jun. 26, 2020
Waiting to Exhale is basically the equivalent to eating an entire Haagen Dazs tub of ice-cream while watching the greatest daytime soap opera of all time – and it is tremendously addictive.
From The Guardian • Mar. 12, 2020
“Okay, these last couple of breaths, we’re going to do square breathing. That means you inhale for three. Hold for three. Exhale for three. Hold for three. Then start again. Ready?”
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
