Meanings
present singular third person inhales · participle present inhaling · participle past inhaled · past inhaled
- intransitiveTo draw air into the lungs, through the nose or mouth by action of the diaphragm.
“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.”
1998, Katherine Greyle, Oracle: The Prophesy Fulfilled, Zephyr Cove, Nev.: LionHearted Publishing, Inc., →ISBN, pages 72 and 74Synonyms: breathe in, inbreathe, inspire · Antonyms: breathe out, outbreathe, exhale, expire
- transitiveTo 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.
[…] 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.
1878, Henry James, “Honoré de Balzac”, in French Poets and Novelists, London: Macmillan, II, p. 1221 more example
And he led the way from the station, stopping once to gloat over the sunset across Trafalgar Square, and again to inhale the tarry scent of the warm wood-paving, which was perfume to his nostrils as the din of its traffic was music to his ears, before we came to one of those political palaces which permit themselves to be included in the list of ordinary clubs.
1909, E[rnest] W[illiam] Hornung, “An Inaugural Banquet”, in Mr. Justice Raffles, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 2Synonyms: breathe in, inbreathe, inspire, fetch · Antonyms: breathe out, outbreathe, exhale
plural inhales
- 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.
2009, David A. Clark, Aaron T. Beck, Cognitive Therapy of Anxiety Disorders: Science and Practice
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo draw air into the lungs, through the nose or mouth by action of the diaphragm.
verbTo 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.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latininhalare“to breathe on (breathe in)”
- Englishinhale
From Latin inhalare (“to breathe on (breathe in)”), from in (“in, into, on”) + halare (“to breathe”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek εἰσπνέω
- εἰσπνέω (eispnéō)to draw air into the lungs
Arabic شَهَقَ
- شَهَقَ (šahaqa)to draw air into the lungs
Bulgarian вди́швам, вди́шам
- вди́швам (vdíšvam)to draw air into the lungs
- вди́шам (vdíšam)to draw air into the lungs
- инхали́рам (inhalíram)to draw something into the nose or lungs
Catalan inhalar, inhalar
- inhalarto draw air into the lungs
- inhalarto draw something into the nose or lungs
- aspirar inspirarto draw something into the nose or lungs
Chinese Cantonese 吸氣 /吸气, 吸
- 吸氣 /吸气 (kap¹ hei³)to draw air into the lungs
- 吸 (kap¹)to draw something into the nose or lungs
Chinese Mandarin 吸氣 /吸气, 吸入
- 吸氣 /吸气 (xīqì)to draw air into the lungs
- 吸入 (xīrù)to draw air into the lungs
- 吸 (xī)to draw something into the nose or lungs
- 吸入 (xīrù)to draw something into the nose or lungs
Czech nadechnout se
- nadechnout seto draw air into the lungs
Danish inhalere
- inhalereto draw air into the lungs
Dutch inademen
- inademento draw air into the lungs
Esperanto enspiri, inhali
- enspirito draw air into the lungs
- inhalito draw something into the nose or lungs
Finnish hengittää sisään, hengittää
- hengittää sisäänto draw air into the lungs
- hengittääto draw something into the nose or lungs
- vetää henkeento draw something into the nose or lungs
- inhaloidato draw something into the nose or lungs
- ahmiato eat fast
French inspirer, aspirer
- inspirerto draw air into the lungs
- aspirerto draw something into the nose or lungs
- inhalerto draw something into the nose or lungs
- ingurgiterto eat fast
German einatmen, inhalieren
- einatmento draw air into the lungs
- inhalierento draw something into the nose or lungs
Greek εισπνέω
- εισπνέω (eispnéo)to draw air into the lungs
Hebrew שָׁאַף
- שָׁאַף (shaáf)to draw air into the lungs
Hungarian belélegzik, belélegez
- belélegzikto draw air into the lungs
- belélegezto draw something into the nose or lungs
- beszívto draw something into the nose or lungs
- felszippantto draw something into the nose or lungs
- magába szívto draw something into the nose or lungs
- belehelto draw something into the nose or lungs
- inhalálto draw something into the nose or lungs
- magába tömto eat fast
- felfalto eat fast
- befalto eat fast
- falto eat fast
Italian inspirare, inalare
- inspirareto draw air into the lungs
- inalareto draw air into the lungs
- inalareto draw something into the nose or lungs
Japanese 吸い込む, 吸入する
- 吸い込む (suikomu)to draw air into the lungs
- 吸入する (kyūnyū suru)to draw air into the lungs
Korean 흡입하다, 빨아들이다
- 흡입하다 (heubiphada)to draw air into the lungs
- 빨아들이다 (pparadeurida)to draw air into the lungs
Māori whakaea, whakangā
- whakaeato draw air into the lungs
- whakangāto draw air into the lungs
- moteto draw air into the lungs
Norwegian Bokmål inhalere, innånde
- inhalereto draw air into the lungs
- innåndeto draw air into the lungs
Polish wdychać, inhalować
- wdychaćto draw air into the lungs
- inhalowaćto draw something into the nose or lungs
- wziewaćto draw something into the nose or lungs
- wdychaćto draw something into the nose or lungs
Portuguese inalar, inspirar
- inalarto draw air into the lungs
- inspirarto draw air into the lungs
- inalarto draw something into the nose or lungs
Romanian inspira, inhala
- inspirato draw air into the lungs
- inhalato draw air into the lungs
- aspirato draw something into the nose or lungs
- inhalato draw something into the nose or lungs
Russian вдыха́ть, вдохну́ть
- вдыха́ть (vdyxátʹ)to draw air into the lungs
- вдохну́ть (vdoxnútʹ)to draw air into the lungs
- вдыха́ть (vdyxátʹ)to draw something into the nose or lungs
- вдохну́ть (vdoxnútʹ)to draw something into the nose or lungs
Slovak nadýchnuť sa, vdychovať
- nadýchnuť sato draw air into the lungs
- vdychovaťto draw air into the lungs
- vdýchnuťto draw air into the lungs
- vdychovaťto draw something into the nose or lungs
- vdýchnuťto draw something into the nose or lungs
Spanish inhalar, alentar
- inhalarto draw air into the lungs
- alentarto draw air into the lungs
- aspirarto draw something into the nose or lungs
- inhalarto draw something into the nose or lungs
- inspirarto draw something into the nose or lungs
Swedish andas in
- andas into draw air into the lungs
Thai หายใจเข้า, สูด
- หายใจเข้า (hǎai-jai-kâo)to draw air into the lungs
- สูด (sùut)to draw something into the nose or lungs
- ดม (dom)to draw something into the nose or lungs
Ukrainian вдиха́ти, вдихну́ти
- вдиха́ти (vdyxáty)to draw air into the lungs
- вдихну́ти (vdyxnúty)to draw air into the lungs
Vietnamese hít
- hítto draw air into the lungs
Welsh anadlu i mewn, mewnanadlu
- anadlu i mewnto draw air into the lungs
- mewnanadluto draw air into the lungs
- anadlu i mewn (rhywbeth)to draw something into the nose or lungs
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with inhale
Anagrams
Cite this entry
inhale. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inhale
“inhale.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inhale. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inhale,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inhale.
Source: inhale on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.