respiration

American  

[res-puh-ray-shuhn] / ˌrɛs pəˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

• respirations
  plural

1. the act of respiring; inhalation and exhalation of air; breathing.

2. Biology.

   1. the sum total of the physical and chemical processes in an organism by which oxygen is conveyed to tissues and cells, and the oxidation products, carbon dioxide and water, are given off.

   2. an analogous chemical process, as in muscle cells or in anaerobic bacteria, occurring in the absence of oxygen.

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respiration British  

/ ˌrɛspəˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. the process in living organisms of taking in oxygen from the surroundings and giving out carbon dioxide ( external respiration ). In terrestrial animals this is effected by breathing air

2. the chemical breakdown of complex organic substances, such as carbohydrates and fats, that takes place in the cells and tissues of animals and plants, during which energy is released and carbon dioxide produced ( internal respiration )

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respiration Scientific  

/ rĕs′pə-rā′shən /

1. The process by which organisms exchange gases, especially oxygen and carbon dioxide, with the environment. In air-breathing vertebrates, respiration takes place in the lungs. In fish and many invertebrates, respiration takes place through the gills. Respiration in green plants occurs during photosynthesis.

2. See cellular respiration

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respiration Cultural  

1. The conversion of oxygen by living things into the energy by which they continue life. Respiration is part of metabolism.

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Discover More

Carbon dioxide is a waste product of respiration.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prerespiration
  noun
• respirational
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• respirations
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of respiration

1400–50; late Middle English respiracioun < Latin respīrātiōn- (stem of respīrātiō ) a breathing out, equivalent to respīrāt ( us ) (past participle of respīrāre to respire ) + -iōn- -ion

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Explanation

Respiration is the act of breathing. You wear a ventilator if you need help with your respiration. Everyone who breathes has the power of respiration. There is, however, another type of respiration which occurs in cells. This is the process of taking in certain substances and putting out others that a cell undergoes to produces energy. One single breath, the inhale and the exhale together, is also called a respiration.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

respiration respirations

The study, published in Nature Cell Biology, is titled "Leucine inhibits degradation of outer mitochondrial membrane proteins to adapt mitochondrial respiration."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026

The condition makes breathing an enormous struggle and turns mucus, meant to facilitate respiration, into its enemy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

The Bengaluru-based startup Dognosis is using AI to analyse dogs' brain activity, respiration and body language -- turning their reaction to scent into data.

From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026

What remained unclear was why some studies found that nitrogen increased soil respiration while others found the opposite effect.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 2026

Nearly every cellular function—metabolism, respiration, cell division, self-defense, waste disposal, secretion, signaling, growth, even cellular death—requires proteins.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

She is now on the monitor, the beeping display of her heartbeats and respirations scrolling along in green and red like a stock ticker at the bottom of the evening news.

From New York Times ● Dec. 16, 2019

In one episode he described as “egregious”, an entry was made “that stated the patient was resting in bed with respirations even and unlabored, however, this resident had already died before this entry was made.”

From The Guardian ● Nov. 8, 2017

These “sighing” respirations, which can occur several times per hour, can lead people to fear that each episode may be their last.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 31, 2017

Breathing slows down, from an average 16 to 12 respirations a minute.

From Time Magazine Archive

In a case of double pneumonia, with enlarged and ruptured spleen, the respirations were from 80 to 90 for two days, the pulse being 130 to 136.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

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