wheeze
Americanverb (used without object)
-
wheezes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wheezed,
past participle, past
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wheezing
present participle
-
to breathe with difficulty and with a whistling sound.
Asthma caused him to wheeze.
-
to make a sound resembling difficult breathing.
The old locomotive wheezed into the station.
noun
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wheezes
plural
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a wheezing breath or sound.
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an old and frequently used joke, saying, story, etc.
verb
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to breathe or utter (something) with a rasping or whistling sound
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(intr) to make or move with a noise suggestive of wheezy breathing
noun
-
a husky, rasping, or whistling sound or breathing
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slang a trick, idea, or plan (esp in the phrase good wheeze )
-
informal a hackneyed joke or anecdote
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wheezesimple
-
wheezessimple
-
have wheezedperfect
-
has wheezedperfect
-
am wheezingprogressive
-
are wheezingprogressive
-
is wheezingprogressive
-
have been wheezingperfect progressive
-
has been wheezingperfect progressive
Past
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wheezedsimple
-
had wheezedperfect
-
was wheezingprogressive
-
were wheezingprogressive
-
had been wheezingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wheeze
1425–75; late Middle English whese (v.), probably < Old Norse hvæsa to hiss
Explanation
To breathe in a gasping, strained way is to wheeze. You might not know you're allergic to cats until you walk into the house your friend shares with six felines and start to wheeze. A particular raspy, whistling kind of breathing characterizes a wheeze. You might wheeze because you've got a bad cold, or because your asthma is acting up after that half marathon you just ran. It can be scary to wheeze sometimes, because it feels like you're not getting quite as much air as you need with each breath. Wheeze shares a Scandinavian root with the Old Norse hvoesa, "to hiss."
Vocabulary lists containing wheeze
James and the Giant Peach
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Unit 1, Words to Know
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List 9
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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.
See Examples For:
If this week shows anything, though, this wheeze, like all such wheezes, has finally sown the seeds of its own obsolescence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
He makes bleak comedies about strivers with shiv-like gags that make you wheeze in pain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
After 28 days, respiratory symptoms of cough, wheeze, breathlessness and sputum were found to be better with benralizumab.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 27, 2024
The tram cars rattle and wheeze, having not been updated in years.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2024
Every little sound, Mary’s wheeze, the scrape of the secret panel, made me want to shriek.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Such wheezes aren’t the most salient feature of the screenplay, though.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
They communicate through grunts, bellows and wheezes, a form of vocalization that plays a crucial role in the dynamics of the group.
From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2024
Whatever cunning wheezes No 10 conjures up, the hole the Conservatives need to climb out of is very deep.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2023
Two and a half years after her infection, Rodríguez can accomplish most daily activities, but she becomes breathless and wheezes when she carries her toddler daughter or does chores such as mopping the floor.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 28, 2023
Even with the music raging, his long, tortured wheezes filled the hall.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
But I’m the kind of person who trained for, and wheezed his way through, a cycling tour of Provence with his dad, but who almost never rode to work.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2023
At Detroit Country Day School, the football team wheezed its way up a steep slope known simply as “The Hill” on the backside of the leafy campus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2022
Every morning, taxi vans full of commuters wheezed in from the city’s fringes.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 29, 2022
Hours later, Aly coughed and wheezed in a cloud of chemical gas near the White House.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 5, 2020
Anya wheezed under the force of Mama’s hug, and then she returned the embrace.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
It said vaping had an association with problems including wheezing and couching, poor oral and dental health, poor sleep, mental health problems and eye symptoms.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Over a wheezing harmonica and lightly strummed guitar, the title character sets out on a journey to avenge the death of her father.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Symptoms can appear within seconds, and include swelling of the throat, wheezing, coughing and difficulty breathing.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
It’s like the quarterback and homecoming queen losing a popularity contest to a wheezing weirdo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
Just his own wheezing breath after his strenuous efforts.
From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke
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.
