Inhale

noun, verb

noun, verb ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An inhalation.

    "Now have client take slower, normal breaths through the nose and notice how the abdomen moves slightly outward with each inhale and then deflates with each exhale."

Verb
  1. 1
    To draw air into the lungs, through the nose or mouth by action of the diaphragm. intransitive

    "“Please. I’m starved.” Her gaze followed the man with the meatpies while she inhaled deeply, trying to hold onto the heavenly scent. […] “I find myself ravenous for meatpie.”"

  2. 2
    draw in (air) wordnet
  3. 3
    To draw air or any form of gas (either in a pure form, or mixed with small particles in the form of aerosols/smoke, sometimes stemming from a medicament) into the lungs, through the nose or mouth by action of the diaphragm. transitive

    "[…] this room, where misfortune seems to ooze, where speculation lurks in corners, and of which Madame Vauquer inhales the warm, fetid air without being nauseated."

  4. 4
    draw deep into the lungs in by breathing wordnet
  5. 5
    To eat very quickly. figuratively, transitive

    "She had also forgotten both diet and protocol as she joined Sven in guzzling large cokes, practically inhaling fries and gravy, and rounding off the meal with double malts."

Synonyms

All synonyms
breathe ininspirebreatheinbreatheaspirateblow

Example

More examples

"I don't like to inhale someone's smoke while I'm working."

Etymology

From Latin inhalare (“to breathe on (breathe in)”), from in (“in, into, on”) + halare (“to breathe”).

Related phrases

French inhalesnap inhale

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.