pant

[pant]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pant ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

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).

verb (used with object)

to breathe or utter gaspingly.

noun

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.

Origin of pant

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

Related formspant·ing·ly, adverbun·pant·ing, adjective

Synonyms for pant

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pant ON THESAURUS.COM

1. 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.

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

Related Words for panting

heaving, gasping, longing, hunger, lust, yearning, passion, craving, gasp, palpitation, hyperpnea, hyperventilation, dyspnea, breathless, short-winded

Examples from the Web for panting

Historical Examples of panting

Panting, she undid the scarf and flooded the room with light.
Jennie Baxter, Journalist
Robert Barr
Panting for breath I blundered at the task of connecting the light.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science September 1930
Various
Panting, completely exhausted, Ken forced his brain to the question.
Under Arctic Ice
H.G. Winter
Panting and breathless he defended himself as best he could.
The Cat of Bubastes
G. A. Henty
Panting and crouching, Winterslea groped his way among them.
Wild Justice: Stories of the South Seas
Lloyd Osbourne

British Dictionary definitions for panting

pant

verb

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

noun

the act or an instance of panting

a short deep gasping noise; puff

Word Origin for pant

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 panting

pant

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.

pant

"a gasping breath," c.1500, from pant (v.).

panting in Medicine

pant

[pănt]

v.

To breathe rapidly and shallowly.