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exhale

[eks-heyl, ek-seyl]
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verb (used without object), ex·haled, ex·hal·ing.
  1. to emit breath or vapor; breathe out.
  2. to pass off as vapor; pass off as an effluence.
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verb (used with object), ex·haled, ex·hal·ing.
  1. to breathe out; emit (air, vapor, sound, etc.): to exhale a sigh.
  2. to give off as vapor: The engine exhaled steam.
  3. to draw out as a vapor or effluence; evaporate.
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Origin of exhale

1350–1400; Middle English exalen < Latin exhālāre, equivalent to ex- ex-1 + hālāre to breathe
Related formsun·ex·haled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for exhale

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • She only, of the trio, could so exhale her soul in the very perfume of sound.

    The Princess Virginia

    C. N. Williamson

  • What a pity that they are as evanescent as the bloom of these flowers and the fragrance they exhale!

    Ernest Linwood

    Caroline Lee Hentz

  • To the Little Grey Woman he seemed to exhale youth from every pore.

    Once a Week

    Alan Alexander Milne

  • I am soon to exhale from my flesh, like the spirit of a broken flower.

    The Ghost

    William. D. O'Connor

  • It seemed to exhale from the land itself, a prolonged sigh as of deep fatigue.

    The Octopus

    Frank Norris

British Dictionary definitions for exhale

exhale

verb
  1. to expel (breath, tobacco smoke, etc) from the lungs; breathe out
  2. to give off (air, vapour, fumes, etc) or (of air, vapour, etc) to be given off; emanate
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Derived Formsexhalable, adjectiveexhalation, noun

Word Origin

C14: from Latin exhālāre to breathe out, from hālāre to breathe
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 exhale

v.

c.1400, from Middle French exhaler (14c.), from Latin exhalare "breathe out, evaporate," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + halare "breathe." Related: Exhaled; exhaling.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
exhale in Medicine

exhale

(ĕks-hāl′, ĕk-sāl′)
v.
  1. To breathe out.
  2. To emit a gas, vapor, or odor.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.