wheeze
Americanverb (used without object)
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to breathe with difficulty and with a whistling sound.
Asthma caused him to wheeze.
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to make a sound resembling difficult breathing.
The old locomotive wheezed into the station.
noun
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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 )
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informal a hackneyed joke or anecdote
Other Word Forms
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.
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
He makes bleak comedies about strivers with shiv-like gags that make you wheeze in pain.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 2025
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
Preschool asthma/recurrent wheeze is a leading cause of hospital admissions in children and results in poor lung function which persists for decades.
From Science Daily • Apr. 4, 2024
The inhalations and exhalations of twelve people made a soft, sighing wheeze in the otherwise soundless room.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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.
