grab some air

present singular third person grabs some air · participle present grabbing some air · participle past grabbed some air · past grabbed some air

1. To catch one's breath; to take deep breaths after stressful or strenuous activity or after holding one's breath.

   Grab some air. Don't flail. Get horizontal. Grab some air again. Relax.

   2013, Diane Beck, Project Management Secrets, →ISBN

   3 more examples

   Finally the meeting started and that gave a few moments to grab some air and calm myself.

   2013, Ramón Ángel Salamán Nicolini, Grasping Life, →ISBN, page 29

   It's quiet except for my gasping, my heart.There, a car. I'm almost there, at the street, on the other side. I stop, lean my palms on my knees to grab some air.

   2013, Ann Pearlman, Colton Simpson, Inside the Crips: Life Inside L.A.'s Most Notorious Gang, →ISBN

   I gave him thirty seconds to grab some air, then asked him, "What the hell gives?"

   2014, Ted Wood, Murder on Ice, →ISBN

2. To go outside for some fresh air; get some air.

   "Where've you been, you weren't in the toilets," “Just er grabbing some air,” she blushed.

   2013, Madeline Bell, Gaby - Wunderkind, →ISBN, page 98

   2 more examples

   I was grabbing some air outside the Cavu Club when, far above me, I heard the slow clang of geese bucking head winds, winging north.

   1953, William Chambers, Robert Chambers, Chambers's Journal, page 65

   You and the flyboys have everything buttoned up, and I feel like grabbing some air and taking a stroll.

   2007, Julian Hudson, Black Alert at Gonzo Station, →ISBN, page 415

3. slangaeronauticsTo gain altitude.

   Then, just as suddenly, the F-86 grabbed some air, leveled out, and turned slightly upward.

   2003, War, Literature, and the Arts - Volume 15, page 6

   3 more examples

   Instantly I applied full throttle, and eased back on the wheel, hoping that our friend, the T-craft would grab some air and put a few feet between us and all that snow and ice.

   1957 May, Robert Sundberg, “I learned about flying from that!”, in Flying Magazine, volume 60, number 5, page 52

   I hate first flights in anything, no matter how ideal the circumstances, but my discomfort was eased considerably upon firewalling the beast, lifting the tail, and grabbing some air. The responsive feel was unmistakable.

   1985, Jim Richard Campbell, Flyer's guide to ultralights, page 12

   I started grabbing some air—3,600 . . . 3,700 . . . 3,800 . . . 3,900 feet—and the jet came under us ...

   2014, Gary Farmer, The Streets Are Blue, →ISBN

4. extreme sportsTo become airborne; catch air.

   Whap! A small surfboard goes by, grabbing some air.

   1988, The Connoisseur: An Illustrated Magazine for Collectors

   3 more examples

   He used the tilted side as a ramp, grabbed some air, fakied down, and ollied back onto level ground.

   1992, Troy Bannon, Mean Street, →ISBN, page 41

   Up for grabs is the Aurora-X, the best board on the market — and I plan on taking first place. Out of the way, rich kid! Huh? You rule, Tony! Nice air, man! . . . and I'm about to grab some air!

   2010, Scott Ciencin, Avalanche Freestyle, →ISBN

   I'm going to shimmy up to those rails above the park and try to grab some air.

   2013, DM Archer, The Astral Projection Conspiracy, →ISBN