hyperventilate

American  

[hahy-per-ven-tl-eyt] / 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

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

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

Charlotte advises me to breathe deeply and try not to hyperventilate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025

Your body spasms and you start to hyperventilate.

From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2024

The game experience at the Duchess was filled with anxious chatter interrupted by loud bursts of joy when the Huskies scored, with the fourth quarter providing tension enough to make Husky fans everywhere hyperventilate.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2024

She felt herself starting to hyperventilate, and she fought down the terror that was threatening to swallow her.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

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

But Ms. Silveria’s anguished weeping, hyperventilated breathing and insistence that she “just saw him yesterday” seem startlingly real.

From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2020

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

From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin

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

Those manic rushes of major-chord euphoria in their hyperventilating crime movies “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems” are by Lopatin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025

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

I tell myself I need to thank him, when I’m not busy drooling into the windows and hyperventilating over the oil paintings and watercolors and canvases as big as my garage door.

From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman