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breather

American  
[bree-ther] / ˈbri ðər /

noun

  1. a pause, as for breath.

    Synonyms:
    intermission, recess, timeout, break, rest

  2. vigorous exercise that causes heavy breathing. breathe.

  3. a person who breathes.

  4. a vent in a container or covering, as in a casing for machinery or in a storage tank, to equalize interior and exterior pressure, permit entry of air, escape of fumes, or the like.

  5. a device for providing air from the atmosphere to submerged or otherwise sealed-off persons, internal-combustion engines, etc..

    the snorkel breather of a submarine.
breather British  
/ ˈbriːðə /

noun

  1. informal a short pause for rest

  2. a person who breathes in a specified way

    a deep breather

  3. a vent in a container to equalize internal and external pressure, such as the pipe in the crankcase of an internal-combustion engine

  4. a small opening in a room, container, cover, etc, supplying air for ventilation

"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 breather

First recorded in 1350–1400, breather is from the Middle English word brethere. See breathe, -er 1

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.

This is a rare instance when U.S. stock exchanges take a breather on a day that is not a federal holiday.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

The stock prices have taken a breather in the past couple of months because there is a fear of peak capex as software becomes increasingly tokenized, and as labor becomes tokenized.

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

Many workers are looking to take a breather from their job or to scale back their high-stress career without quitting altogether.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

“Six months is not enough of a breather for people to deal with all the issues and decisions they have to make,” Michelson said.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026

He was a heavy breather on account of his asthma, which was why he didn’t fight in the war even though he had a military flattop haircut that looked like an airport for paper airplanes.

From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos

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.