inhale

[in-heyl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR inhale ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), in·haled, in·hal·ing.

to breathe in; draw in by breathing: to inhale the polluted air.

verb (used without object), in·haled, in·hal·ing.

to breathe in, especially the smoke of cigarettes, cigars, etc.: Do you inhale when you smoke?

Origin of inhale

First recorded in 1715–25; in-² + (ex)hale

Related formsun·in·haled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for inhale

puff, smell, sniff, snort, pull, inspire, drag, respire, gasp, insufflate

Examples from the Web for inhale

Contemporary Examples of inhale

If you tend to inhale your food without realizing how much you consumed, opt for nibbles like in-shell pistachio nuts.
12 Thanksgiving Weight Loss Tips That Actually Work
DailyBurn
November 27, 2014
TB, for example, is spread when I inhale the exhaled breath of a person with active disease.
The CDC Was Wrong About How to Stop Ebola
Kent Sepkowitz
October 1, 2014
They emit an odor that no human being should inhale, and yet you have.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq
Nathan Bradley Bethea
August 31, 2014
So of course, Jimmy Fallon took the opportunity to ruin it by forcing Freeman to inhale helium and pitch up his voice.
Viral Video of the Day: Morgan Freeman Sucks Helium
Alex Chancey
July 25, 2014
But inhale the fumes of Republican rhetoric more deeply, and a more mind-blowing reality comes into focus.
Rubio’s Wrong on Recreational Pot
James Poulos
May 22, 2014

Historical Examples of inhale

Not because, as some people tell you, they are made of inferior tobacco, but because you inhale them.
Garrison's Finish
W. B. M. Ferguson
Is it not an ardent desire to inhale a portion of the being we love?
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
That the dead may arise and inhale the incense of offerings.
The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria
Morris Jastrow
Why, you would cease to inhale the breath of life itself, for his sake.
The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton
Wardon Allan Curtis
Let me for a while inhale the breath of an invigorating literature.
Stories By English Authors: Italy
Various

British Dictionary definitions for inhale

inhale

verb

to draw (breath) into the lungs; breathe in

Word Origin for inhale

C18: from in- ² + Latin halāre 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 inhale

1725, "to breathe in," back-formation from inhalation or else from Latin inhalare "breathe upon," from in- "upon" (see in- (2)) + halare "breathe." Related: Inhaled; inhaling. Current sense is because the word was taken as the opposite of exhale. Slang sense of "eat rapidly" is recorded from 1924. As a noun, by 1934. Related: Inhaled; inhaling.

inhale in Medicine

inhale

[ĭn-hāl′]

v.

To breathe in; inspire.

To draw something such as smoke or a medicinal mist into the lungs by breathing; inspire.