hyperventilate

American  

[hahy-per-ven-tl-ayt] / ˌhaɪ pərˈvɛn tlˌeɪt /

verb (used without object)

hyperventilated, hyperventilating

1. to be afflicted with hyperventilation; breathe abnormally fast and deep.

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verb (used with object)

hyperventilated, hyperventilating

1. to cause (a patient) to breathe more rapidly and deeply than normal.

hyperventilate British  

/ ˌhaɪpəˈvɛntɪleɪt /

verb

1. (intr) to breathe in an abnormally deep, long, and rapid manner, sometimes resulting in cramp and dizziness

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Etymology

Origin of hyperventilate

First recorded in 1930–35; back formation from hyperventilation

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Explanation

To hyperventilate is to breathe so unusually fast that you feel dizzy or panicked. You might hyperventilate after exercising too hard on a hot day, or because you're anxious about speaking in front of a crowd. When you hyperventilate, your body starts to lose carbon dioxide much faster than normal. This is what causes wooziness or even fainting in people who hyperventilate. There are many reasons for this rapid breathing, including being at a very high altitude, reacting badly to a medication, or just feeling very fearful. Hyperventilate combines the Greek hyper-, "over" or "beyond," and ventilate, from the Latin ventilare, "fan" or "agitate."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hyperventilate hyperventilated hyperventilating

Her first eclipse, seen in 2006 from a cave in Cappadocia, Turkey, made Whitman Check hyperventilate and her husband cry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

And whether there is a camera there or not, you see someone about to fall or hyperventilate, you’re going to naturally, as a human, go and help them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Before some of you hyperventilate, that huge agenda is not what Andy Burnham is likely to argue for on day one.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

Your body spasms and you start to hyperventilate.

From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2024

Where other people may hyperventilate or feel faint when having a panic attack, my anxiety essentially caused high levels of tiredness, leaving me feeling incredibly drained.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

About one-third of the fatigue patients hyperventilated, while just one person in the control group did.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 10, 2025

Spence got down on the floor, speaking calmly as the young woman hyperventilated.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 24, 2023

I haven’t mentioned Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” yet, a hyperventilated ode to cinema undone by its director’s indulgence.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2023

ENGOSHURA, Kenya — John Quindos wailed and hyperventilated so violently that officials rushed him to a first aid station.

From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2019

Her chest expanded unnaturally, too quickly, and collapsed just as unnaturally as JoJo hyperventilated her.

From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin

“I’m actually only going to speak about what happened after I left that set of my own film adaptation, hyperventilating and sobbing, and there are many witnesses, so it’s not really a secret.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

The private saw a woman on the ground hyperventilating and holding a baby as her husband yelled for help.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

‘Magnificent Seven’ stocks are not in a bubble: Many market commentators are hyperventilating about tech stocks being a bubble.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026

Ms Benson said she explained her son's medical history and told the call handler he was hyperventilating, in agony and could not move.

From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2025

And my heart got so it was racing so hard you’d have thought it was hyperventilating.

From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña

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