wheeze

[hweez, weez]

verb (used without object)

wheezed, wheezing 

1. to breathe with difficulty and with a whistling sound.

   Asthma caused him to wheeze.

2. to make a sound resembling difficult breathing.

   The old locomotive wheezed into the station.

noun

1. a wheezing breath or sound.

2. an old and frequently used joke, saying, story, etc.

wheeze

/ wiːz /

verb

1. to breathe or utter (something) with a rasping or whistling sound

2. (intr) to make or move with a noise suggestive of wheezy breathing

noun

1. a husky, rasping, or whistling sound or breathing

2. slang,  a trick, idea, or plan (esp in the phrase good wheeze )

3. informal,  a hackneyed joke or anecdote

Other Word Forms

• wheezer noun
• wheezy adjective
• wheezily adverb
• wheeziness noun
• wheezingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of wheeze¹

1425–75; late Middle English whese (v.), probably < Old Norse hvæsa to hiss

Word History and Origins

Origin of wheeze¹

C15: probably from Old Norse hvǣsa to hiss

Example Sentences

Edi Rama does not deny that there is an element of a publicity stunt to his latest wheeze.

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And next stop is the Old Firm game at Ibrox, which both clubs pant and wheeze towards.

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He makes bleak comedies about strivers with shiv-like gags that make you wheeze in pain.

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Some 29% of parents surveyed said their child has had wheezing or breath whistling in the past, most in the last 12 months.

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Colleagues and even activists said my work was a waste of time — that people like Spencer were wheezing artifacts who would eventually disappear as the U.S. embraced Latinos and immigrants.

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Related Words

• cough 
• gasp 
• hiss 
• puff 
• snore