breeze

¹

[breez]

noun

1. a wind or current of air, especially a light or moderate one.

2. a wind of 4–31 miles per hour (2–14 meters per second).

3. Informal.,  an easy task; something done or carried on without difficulty.

   Finding people to join in the adventure was a breeze.

4. Chiefly British Informal.,  a disturbance or quarrel.

verb (used without object)

breezed, breezing 

1. (of the wind) to blow a breeze (usually used impersonally with it as subject).

   It breezed from the west all day.

2. to move in a self-confident or jaunty manner.

   She breezed up to the police officer and asked for directions.

3. Informal.,  to proceed quickly and easily; move rapidly without intense effort (often followed by along, into, orthrough ).

   He breezed through the task.

   The car breezed along the highway.

verb (used with object)

breezed, breezing 

1. to cause to move in an easy or effortless manner, especially at less than full speed.

   The boy breezed the horse around the track.

verb phrase

1. breeze in

   1. to win effortlessly.

      He breezed in with an election plurality of 200,000.

   2. Also breeze intoout. to move or act with a casual or careless attitude.

      He breezed out without paying attention to anyone.

2. breeze up,  to become windy.

breeze

²

[breez]

noun

1. cinders, ash, or dust from coal, coke, or charcoal.

2. concrete, brick, or cinder block in which such materials form a component.

breeze

¹

/ briːz /

noun

1. a gentle or light wind

2. meteorol a wind of force two to six inclusive on the Beaufort scale

3. informal,  an easy task or state of ease

   being happy here is a breeze

4. informal,  a disturbance, esp a lively quarrel

5. informal,  to chat

verb

1. to move quickly or casually

   he breezed into the room

2. (of wind) to blow

   the south wind breezed over the fields

breeze

²

/ briːz /

noun

1. an archaic or dialect name for the gadfly

breeze

³

/ briːz /

noun

1. ashes of coal, coke, or charcoal used to make breeze blocks

Other Word Forms

• breezeless adjective
• breezelike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of breeze¹

First recorded in 1555–65; earlier brize, brise “north or northeast wind”; compare Dutch bries, East Frisian brîse, French brize, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan brisa, Italian brezza; further origin uncertain

Origin of breeze²

First recorded in 1720–30; variant of dialect brays, from French braise “live coals, cinders”; braze ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of breeze¹

C16: probably from Old Spanish briza northeast wind

Origin of breeze²

Old English briosa , of unknown origin

Origin of breeze³

C18: from French braise live coals; see _braise

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. shoot / bat the breeze, to converse aimlessly; chat.

   We sat around most of the afternoon, just shooting the breeze.

More idioms and phrases containing breeze

• hands down (in a breeze)
• shoot the breeze

Synonym Study

See wind ¹.

Example Sentences

The shimmering and pellucid choreographic poem presents its central woman as if arriving on a breeze by way of skimming steps on pointe and ultimately exiting as breezily as she arrived.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The staccato nature of the writing is helped enormously by the entrancing acting of both Vargas, who breezes through different theatrical realms as though he had wings, and Hernandez, who locks realistically into character.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A hot late-summer breeze blows across a Burbank parking lot as Lorde sits beneath a tattered canopy outside the rehearsal studio where she’s preparing for her latest world tour.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

And Snell took advantage, breezing into the seventh having given up just a hit.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She travels to Savannah’s Bonaventure graveyard, abutting the Wilmington River, “where shrimp boats float, a mostly silent river that is only audible when a breeze shakes the trees and you hear the water whisper.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cruise 
• glide 
• hurry 
• sail 
• waltz 
• zip