Meanings
plural breathers
- Something or someone that breathes.
- specificallyA heavy breather.
Most of us make sense of the world through talk and sight, and breathers represent that most anxiety provoking experience, nothingness with a hint of possibility.
1981 April 25, Martin H. Krieger, “Phone Calls”, in Gay Community News, page 12
- natural sciencesA spatially localized, time-periodic excitation in a one-dimensional lattice.
- colloquialdatedThat which puts one out of breath, such as vigorous exercise.
- engineeringAn air inlet path to the crankcase
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA short break; a rest or respite.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna short respite
nounair passage provided by a retractable device containing intake and exhaust pipes; permits a submarine to stay submerged for extended periods of time
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From breathe + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (relational noun suffix).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian отдих
- отдих (otdih)short break
Catalan respirador
- respiradorsomething that breathes
Finnish hengähdysaika, hengähdystauko
- hengähdysaikashort break
- hengähdystaukoshort break
- hengittäjäsomething that breathes
French pause
- pauseshort break
German Verschnaufpause, Atempause
- Verschnaufpauseshort break
- Atempauseshort break
- Atmendesomething that breathes
Polish odsapka
- odsapkashort break
Russian переды́шка
- переды́шка (peredýška)short break
Slovak oddych
- oddychshort break
Spanish respiro, respirador
- respiroshort break
- respiradorsomething that breathes
Turkish ara, nefes alan
- arashort break
- nefes alansomething that breathes
Ukrainian перепочи́нок
- перепочи́нок (perepočýnok)short break
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with breather
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
breather. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/breather
“breather.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/breather. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “breather,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/breather.
Source: breather on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.