exhale
Americanverb (used without object)
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to emit breath or vapor; breathe out.
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to pass off as vapor; pass off as an effluence.
verb (used with object)
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to breathe out; emit (air, vapor, sound, etc.).
to exhale a sigh.
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to give off as vapor.
The engine exhaled steam.
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to draw out as a vapor or effluence; evaporate.
verb
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to expel (breath, tobacco smoke, etc) from the lungs; breathe out
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to give off (air, vapour, fumes, etc) or (of air, vapour, etc) to be given off; emanate
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of exhale
1350–1400; Middle English exalen < Latin exhālāre, equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + hālāre to breathe
Explanation
When you breathe, you inhale and exhale. In other words, you breathe in and out. When you breathe out, you exhale. If you exhale on a cold winter day, your breath looks like smoke in the frigid air. Yoga classes, with their emphasis on breathing, involve a lot of inhaling and exhaling. When you exhale, your lungs push air out, reducing the carbon dioxide in your body and making room for you to inhale oxygen. The Latin root exhalare combines ex, "out," and halare, "breathe."
Vocabulary lists containing exhale
Power Prefix: ex-
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The Landry News
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Flying to the Moon
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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.
Meal two: Something easy, almost offhand This is your midweek exhale.
From Salon • Apr. 26, 2026
The fall in oil prices on Tuesday has given traders a moment to "exhale", but energy markets remain in a state of "total tug-of-war", said Alberto Bellorin from oil and gas investment firm InterCapital Energy.
From BBC • Mar. 9, 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
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.
