exhale
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to emit breath or vapor; breathe out.
-
to pass off as vapor; pass off as an effluence.
verb (used with object)
-
to breathe out; emit (air, vapor, sound, etc.).
to exhale a sigh.
-
to give off as vapor.
The engine exhaled steam.
-
to draw out as a vapor or effluence; evaporate.
verb
-
to expel (breath, tobacco smoke, etc) from the lungs; breathe out
-
to give off (air, vapour, fumes, etc) or (of air, vapour, etc) to be given off; emanate
Other Word Forms
- exhalable adjective
- exhalation noun
- unexhaled adjective
Etymology
Origin of exhale
1350–1400; Middle English exalen < Latin exhālāre, equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + hālāre 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.
Her children sometimes struggle with anxiety at bedtime, and Judd has taught them to breathe using a shorter in-breath and a longer exhale to help calm them.
From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026
For many Americans, retirement is supposed to be a financial exhale.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 18, 2026
“My goal right now is to just exhale; recover, kind of get myself together. I’ve been sprinting hard for many, many years and it will be nice to kind of recharge,” Bostic said.
From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026
If you’re holding your breath awaiting the end of the compact-disc era, don’t exhale quite yet.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025
I heard one of the soldiers exhale through his nose.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
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.
