breeze

[ breez ]

/ briz /

|||

noun

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

a wind of 4–31 miles per hour (2–14 m/sec).

Informal. an easy task; something done or carried on without difficulty: Finding people to join in the adventure was a breeze.

Chiefly British Informal. a disturbance or quarrel.

verb (used without object), breezed, breez·ing.

(of the wind) to blow a breeze (usually used impersonally with it as subject): It breezed from the west all day.

to move in a self-confident or jaunty manner: She breezed up to the police officer and asked for directions.

Informal. to proceed quickly and easily; move rapidly without intense effort (often followed by along, into, or through): He breezed through the task. The car breezed along the highway.

verb (used with object), breezed, breez·ing.

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 Phrases

breeze in, Slang.

to win effortlessly: He breezed in with an election plurality of 200,000.
Also breeze into/out. to move or act with a casual or careless attitude: He breezed out without paying attention to anyone.

breeze up, Atlantic States. to become windy.

Nearby words

Idioms

shoot/bat the breeze, Slang.

to converse aimlessly; chat.
to talk nonsense or exaggerate the truth: He likes to shoot the breeze, so don't take everything he says seriously.

Origin of breeze

1555–65; earlier brize, brise north or northeast wind; compare Dutch bries, East Frisian brîse, French brize, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan brisa, Italian brezza; orig. and path of transmission disputed

SYNONYMS FOR breeze

1. See wind¹.

Related formsbreeze·less, adjectivebreeze·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for breezing

It was thro' the chance, afforded by an hour of breezing sea-scape recreation, that I discovered the mysterious chronicle.
The Spook Ballads|William Theodore Parkes
As they were breezing along with all sails set, over a moonlit sea, they saw a large ship appear in the distance.
The Story of Don Quixote|Arvid Paulson, Clayton Edwards, and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
We must let her go, and bear a hand aboard—it's breezing on all the time, and I expect we shall have it harder to-night.
There She Blows!|William Hussey Macy
The glass is falling, the wind is breezing up, and I won't say but what there's dirt in it.
The Wrecker|Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne

Ben recovered no memory of the Pownals breezing in at Springfield to look at him, though they must have done so.
Wilderness of Spring|Edgar Pangborn

British Dictionary definitions for breezing

breeze

/ (briːz) /

noun

a gentle or light wind

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

informal an easy task or state of easebeing happy here is a breeze

informal, mainly British a disturbance, esp a lively quarrel

shoot the breeze informal to chat

verb (intr)

to move quickly or casuallyhe breezed into the room

(of wind) to blowthe south wind breezed over the fields

Word Origin for breeze

C16: probably from Old Spanish briza northeast wind

breeze

/ (briːz) /

noun

an archaic or dialect name for the gadfly

Word Origin for breeze

Old English briosa, of unknown origin

breeze

/ (briːz) /

noun

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

Word Origin for breeze

C18: from French braise live coals; see braise

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

Word Origin and History for breezing

breeze

1560s, "north or northeast wind," from Old Spanish briza "cold northeast wind;" in West Indies and Spanish Main, the sense shifting to "northeast trade wind," then "fresh wind from the sea." English sense of "gentle or light wind" is from 1620s. An alternative possibility is that the English word is from East Frisian brisen "to blow fresh and strong." The slang for "something easy" is American English, c.1928.

breeze

"move briskly," 1904, from breeze (n.). Related: Breezed; breezing.

Idioms and Phrases with breezing

breeze

In addition to the idiom beginning with breeze

breeze in

also see:

hands down (in a breeze)
shoot the breeze

breeze

noun

verb (used without object), breezed, breez·ing.

verb (used with object), breezed, breez·ing.

Verb Phrases

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of breeze

Examples from the Web for breezing

breeze

noun

verb (intr)

Word Origin for breeze

breeze

noun

Word Origin for breeze

breeze

noun

Word Origin for breeze

breeze

breeze

breeze