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:
Like the sound of a false leg, upon which every step becomes a little wheeze.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2025
Alesya’s dog really does wheeze when it walks.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 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
"The findings provide a significant advance in our understanding of lung inflammation in children with wheeze and suppurative lung disease," she said.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 4, 2024
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, hearing the familiar wheeze of my lungs trying desperately to fill with air through the sea of mucus.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
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
The queen's light snores and wheezes fill the room.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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
Outside a CT scan room, a woman sitting on a bench wheezed as snot dribbled out of her nostrils into crumpled tissues.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 23, 2022
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
He wheezed for a few moments, then continued.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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
"More serious but less common symptoms include wheezing, chest pains or severe cough. If you think you are having a medical emergency, seek immediate medical assistance."
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 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
Asthma can cause wheezing, breathlessness, a tight chest and coughing.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2025
“It’s okay,” says Pop, sitting on the bed, wheezing.
From "Towers Falling" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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.
