Word of the Day: Breath

breath / breTH noun 1. air which is inhaled and exhaled during respiration Communication is to relationships what breath is to life. Virginia Satir, 1916-1988   2. air which is carried from the mouth Better the cold blast of winter than the hot breath of a pursuing elephant. Chinese Proverb   3. life A human being is only breath and shadow. Sophocles, c. 496 BC – c. 406 BC   4. a light breeze Worldly fame is but a breath of wind that blows now this way, and now that, and changes name as it changes direction. Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321   5. a small indication; a hint Perfect love has a breath of poetry which can exalt the relations of the least-instructed human beings. from ‘Silas Marner’ by George Eliot, 1819-1880   6. the amount of time it takes to inhale and exhale I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart. from ‘The Bell Jar’ by Sylvia Plath, 1932-1963   7. the faculty of respiration How art thou out of breath when thou hast breath/ To say to me that thou art out of breath? from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare, 1564-1616