pant1
[pant]
- to breathe hard and quickly, as after exertion.
- to gasp, as for air.
- to long with breathless or intense eagerness; yearn: to pant for revenge.
- to throb or heave violently or rapidly; palpitate.
- to emit steam or the like in loud puffs.
- Nautical. (of the bow or stern of a ship) to work with the shock of contact with a succession of waves.Compare work(def 24).
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- to breathe or utter gaspingly.
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- the act of panting.
- a short, quick, labored effort at breathing; gasp.
- a puff, as of an engine.
- a throb or heave, as of the breast.
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Origin of pant1
1400–50; late Middle English panten < Middle French pant(a)is(i)er < Vulgar Latin *phantasiāre to have visions < Greek phantasioûn to have or form images. See fantasy
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com1. puff, blow. Pant, gasp suggest breathing with more effort than usual. Pant suggests rapid, convulsive breathing, as from violent exertion or excitement: to pant after running for the train. Gasp suggests catching one's breath in a single quick intake, as from amazement, terror, and the like, or a series of such quick intakes of breath, as in painful breathing: to gasp with horror; to gasp for breath. 3. thirst, hunger.
pant2
[pant]
- of or relating to pants: pant cuffs.
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Origin of pant2
First recorded in 1890–95; singular of pants
pant-
- variant of panto- before a vowel.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
blowbreathepalpitatehuffthrobwhiffchuffgulpsnortpuffwheezeheavewinddesirelusthungersighcovetcravepineExamples from the Web for pant
Contemporary Examples
This requires him to pant, bark, fetch, and lick Julia Roberts.
Historical Examples
Why, in a little while we wanted to hold our mouths open and pant like a dog.
Tom Sawyer AbroadMark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
He was out of breath with whispering; I could hear him pant slightly.
The Secret SharerJoseph Conrad
I pant for a plantation which shall shelter and not suffocate.
The Pearl of the Antilles, or An Artist in CubaWalter Goodman
Her head drooped back and her parted lips seemed to pant and glow.
In a Little TownRupert Hughes
“Bullets,” said Harry, who began to pant with excitement, as he made for the door.
In the Mahdi's GraspGeorge Manville Fenn
pant
- to breathe with noisy deep gasps, as when out of breath from exertion or excitement
- to say (something) while breathing thus
- (intr often foll by for) to have a frantic desire (for); yearn
- (intr) to pulsate; throb rapidly
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- the act or an instance of panting
- a short deep gasping noise; puff
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Word Origin
C15: from Old French pantaisier, from Greek phantasioun to have visions, from phantasia fantasy
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 pant
v.
mid-15c., perhaps a shortening of Old French pantaisier "gasp, puff, pant, be out of breath, be in distress" (12c.), probably from Vulgar Latin *pantasiare "be oppressed with a nightmare, struggle for breathing during a nightmare," literally "to have visions," from Greek phantasioun "have or form images, subject to hallucinations," from phantasia "appearance, image, fantasy" (see phantasm). Related: Panted; panting.
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n.
"a gasping breath," c.1500, from pant (v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
pant
(pănt)- To breathe rapidly and shallowly.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.