apnoea

British

/ æpˈnɪə /

noun

a temporary inability to breathe

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of apnoea

C18: from New Latin, from Greek apnoia, from _a- ¹ + pnein to breathe

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.

See Examples For:

apnoea

The group continues to face legal proceedings following a recall, initiated in 2021, of its DreamStation sleep apnoea devices, found to stop working intermittently.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

Backway, whose own husband has sleep apnoea, said it could go undiagnosed for years due to the symptoms being blamed on other things, "especially for women".

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

"I had heart failure, irregular heart beat, COPD, sleep apnoea," he said.

From BBC ● May 16, 2026

This discovery could lead to new ways to treat high blood pressure, especially in people with sleep apnoea, where carotid body activity increases when breathing stops during sleep.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 22, 2026

Their paralysis is very ominous, and may prove fatal in a short time from apnoea.

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

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023