exhale

[ eks-heyl, ek-seyl ]

verb (used without object)

, ex·haled, ex·hal·ing.

1. to emit breath or vapor; breathe out.
2. to pass off as vapor; pass off as an effluence.

verb (used with object)

, ex·haled, ex·hal·ing.

1. to breathe out; emit (air, vapor, sound, etc.):

   to exhale a sigh.

2. to give off as vapor:

   The engine exhaled steam.

3. to draw out as a vapor or effluence; evaporate.

exhale

/ ɛksˈheɪl; ɪɡˈzeɪl /

verb

1. to expel (breath, tobacco smoke, etc) from the lungs; breathe out
2. to give off (air, vapour, fumes, etc) or (of air, vapour, etc) to be given off; emanate

Derived Forms

• exˈhalable, adjective
• ˌexhaˈlation, noun

Other Words From

• unex·haled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of exhale¹

1350–1400; Middle English exalen < Latin exhālāre, equivalent to ex- ex- ¹ + hālāre to breathe

Word History and Origins

Origin of exhale¹

C14: from Latin exhālāre to breathe out, from hālāre to breathe

Example Sentences

The flu-covered immune rodents were not exhaling virus into the air.

From Science News For Students

The larger respiratory droplets that are known to spread the coronavirus are larger bits of spit and mucus that a person propels outward when they forcefully exhale.

From FiveThirtyEight

Filters in the tubing keep each patient’s exhaled air from infecting others.

From Science News For Students

Breathing in smaller airborne droplets exhaled or coughed out may also cause infection.

From Science News For Students

Between 30 and 40 percent of the people with coronavirus infections exhaled viruses if they wore no mask.

From Science News For Students

Changing the way you inhale and exhale can help you feel more relaxed, energized, or focused.

From The Daily Beast

Then, exhale through a slightly open mouth as you count to four.

From The Daily Beast

Like a gangster shooting in a Hays Code era motion picture, the inhale and the exhale are shown in separate shots.

From The Daily Beast

Mom drew deeply on her cigarette, fingers shaking on the exhale.

From The Daily Beast

Silently count to five on each inhale and exhale; continue for five to 15 minutes.

From The Daily Beast

Nigel's enthusiasm seemed almost visibly to exhale from the paper as Isaacson held the letter in his hands.

From Project Gutenberg

Smoking was called drinking tobacco, as the fashionable method was to "put it through the nose" or exhale it through the nostrils.

From Project Gutenberg

The kitchen was so close to the living rooms that, at dinner-time, the whole house seemed to exhale a smell of roast mutton.

From Project Gutenberg

That organ has only to exhale, in its degree, a fostering tropic air in order to produce complications almost beyond reckoning.

From Project Gutenberg

As soon as conscious breathing was necessary it was my custom deliberately to inhale on one step and exhale on the next.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• breathe
• emit
• give off
• let out