breeze

¹ American  

[breez] / briz /

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.

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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.

idioms

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

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

breeze ² American  

[breez] / briz /

noun

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

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

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breeze ¹ British  

/ 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

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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 British  

/ briːz /

noun

1. an archaic or dialect name for the gadfly

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breeze ³ British  

/ briːz /

noun

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

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breeze More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing breeze

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

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Related Words

See wind ¹.

Other Word Forms

• breezeless adjective
• breezelike adjective

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

The sound of a horse’s shrill whinny on the street below drifted in through an open window, but no breeze.

From Literature

I felt like a hawk catching a gentle breeze as I flew about 400 feet over the oak woodlands and ranchland below me.

From Los Angeles Times

The Rams were nearly toppled by the runts, barely surviving what should have been a blowout, profusely sweating through a wild-card playoff game that should have been a breeze, and now you wonder.

From Los Angeles Times

I thought that with all my caution up front, things would be a breeze.

From Los Angeles Times

The airport is just 15 miles from his house and a breeze to navigate, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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