Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Wheeze
Wheeze
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Wheezed
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Wheezing
.] [OE.
whesen
, AS. hwēsan
(cf. Icel. hvæsa
to hiss, Sw. hväsa
, Dan. hvæse
); akin to AS. hwōsta
a cough, D. hoest
, G. husten
, OHG. huosto
, Icel. hōsti
, Lith. kosti
to cough, Skr. kās
. √43. Cf. Husky
hoarse.] To breathe hard, and with an audible piping or whistling sound, as persons affected with asthma.
“Wheezing lungs.” Shak.
Wheeze
,Noun.
1.
A piping or whistling sound caused by difficult respiration.
2.
(Phon.)
An ordinary whisper exaggerated so as to produce the hoarse sound known as the “stage whisper.” It is a forcible whisper with some admixture of tone.
Webster 1828 Edition
Wheeze
WHEEZE
,Verb.
I.
Definition 2024
wheeze
wheeze
English
Noun
wheeze (plural wheezes)
Examples |
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- A piping or whistling sound caused by difficult respiration.
- An ordinary whisper exaggerated so as to produce the hoarse sound known as the "stage whisper"; a forcible whisper with some admixture of tone.
- (Britain, slang) An ulterior scheme or plan
- 2011 "Road rage; High petrol prices hurt, but will not throttle the economy", The Economist 19 November 2011:
- The main point of fuel duty, though, is as a fiscal wheeze: it made up 5% of the tax take in 2010.
- 2011 "Road rage; High petrol prices hurt, but will not throttle the economy", The Economist 19 November 2011:
- (slang) Something very humorous or laughable.
- The new comedy is a wheeze.
- You think you're going to win? That's a real wheeze!
Synonyms
- See also Wikisaurus:joke
Translations
piping or whistling sound caused by difficult respiration
exaggerated whisper
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Verb
wheeze (third-person singular simple present wheezes, present participle wheezing, simple past and past participle wheezed)
- To breathe hard, and with an audible piping or whistling sound, as persons affected with asthma.
- 2001, Joyce Carol Oates, Middle Age: A Romance (Fourth Estate, paperback edition, 443)
- If the air smelled even faintly of dog, Lionel coughed, wheezed and sneezed.
- 2001, Joyce Carol Oates, Middle Age: A Romance (Fourth Estate, paperback edition, 443)
Translations
breathe hard
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