suspire
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to sigh.
-
to breathe.
verb (used with object)
verb
-
to sigh or utter with a sigh; yearn
-
(intr) to breathe; respire
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of suspire
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin suspīrāre, equivalent to su- su- + spīrāre to breathe
Explanation
When you suspire, you breathe deeply or sigh. You might suspire melodramatically as you listen to your best friend complain about her allowance for the thousandth time. The verb suspire is considered obsolete today—you'll probably only encounter it when you're reading poetry. In Robert Frost's poem "Sitting by a Bush in Broad Sunlight," he wrote: "And from that one intake of fire / All creatures still warmly suspire." Not only is it a literary way to say "breathe," but it also rhymes nicely with "fire." The Latin root is spirare, "to breathe."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We only live, only suspire Consumed by either fire or fire.
From Time Magazine Archive
"But times are bad!" he would suspire in moments of depression.
From The Valley of the Kings by Pickthall, Marmaduke William
Zadkiel or no Zadkiel, I will suspire, and risk it, "O that I were lying under the olives!"
From From a Cornish Window A New Edition by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir
Each of the principals, seconded by his particular waiter, after carefully taking his opponent's range and bearings, will suspire and hit him in the eye.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, February 25, 1914 by Various
By his gates of breath There lies a downy feather which stirs not: Did he suspire, that light and weightless down Perforce must move.
From King Henry IV, Part 2 by Shakespeare, William
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
