Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

wheeze

[hweez, weez]
See more synonyms for wheeze on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object), wheezed, wheez·ing.
  1. to breathe with difficulty and with a whistling sound: Asthma caused him to wheeze.
  2. to make a sound resembling difficult breathing: The old locomotive wheezed into the station.
Show More
noun
  1. a wheezing breath or sound.
  2. an old and frequently used joke, saying, story, etc.
Show More

Origin of wheeze

1425–75; late Middle English whese (v.), probably < Old Norse hvæsa to hiss
Related formswheez·er, nounwheez·ing·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for wheeze

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Of course he had the wheeze all wrong and I saw that he should be in bed.

    Ruggles of Red Gap

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • She was so weak in the chest you could hear her wheeze as far as you could see her.

  • If only he could get that wheeze off: "Phyllis is my only joy!"

    Five Tales

    John Galsworthy

  • I'm the biggest giddy fool at that kind of wheeze that ever lived.

    War and the Weird

    Forbes Phillips

  • Snuffle and wheeze—snuffle and wheeze of the asthmatic Chinamans breathing.

    Dust of the Desert

    Robert Welles Ritchie

British Dictionary definitions for wheeze

wheeze

verb
  1. to breathe or utter (something) with a rasping or whistling sound
  2. (intr) to make or move with a noise suggestive of wheezy breathing
Show More
noun
  1. a husky, rasping, or whistling sound or breathing
  2. British slang a trick, idea, or plan (esp in the phrase good wheeze)
  3. informal a hackneyed joke or anecdote
Show More
Derived Formswheezer, nounwheezy, adjectivewheezily, adverbwheeziness, noun

Word Origin

C15: probably from Old Norse hvǣsa to hiss
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 wheeze

v.

mid-15c., probably from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse hvoesa "to hiss," Danish hvæse) cognate with Old English hwæst "act of blowing," hwosan "to cough," from an imitative root. Related: Wheezed; wheezing. The noun is first recorded 1834.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
wheeze in Medicine

wheeze

(wēz)
v.
  1. To breathe with difficulty, producing a hoarse whistling sound.
Show More
n.
  1. A wheezing sound.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.