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
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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:
Her condition has become more manageable, but the 27-year-old said it’s still scary when her chest tightens and she starts to wheeze.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026
After 28 days, respiratory symptoms of cough, wheeze, breathlessness and sputum were found to be better with benralizumab.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 27, 2024
But three days into a string of seven-hour rehearsals, her voice collapsed, the high notes so long her hallmark dissolving into a pitchy wheeze.
From New York Times ● May 30, 2024
One night she hears “the wheeze of weight on the stairs” of her 18th century New England Colonial and tries to dismiss it as her 8-year-old daughter sleepwalking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2024
Not even the car’s characteristic wheeze that I’d come to know well.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
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
As the 2022 midterm election wheezes to an end, the start of the 2024 campaign feels both uncharted and uncannily familiar.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2022
He has a red, red face that always makes him look like he’s on the verge of heatstroke or a heart attack, and he wheezes when he talks.
From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
Lying in a bed there, he wheezed in pain from his wound as he spoke.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
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
Hours later, Aly coughed and wheezed in a cloud of chemical gas near the White House.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 5, 2020
“I couldn't stand up....My legs wouldn't work,” he wheezed.
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
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
"She is wheezing," Markos tells the nurse in the video, cradling the poorly chicken with a worried expression on his face.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
Symptoms can appear within seconds, and include swelling of the throat, wheezing, coughing and difficulty breathing.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Smoke exposure during the fires also took a toll: 40% reported worsening respiratory symptoms, including coughing, shortness of breath and wheezing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
I just pulled myself up, drew deep wheezing breaths, whispered, “Thank you, God,” and continued running faster than I ever knew I could.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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.
