Definition of "breath" []

• The air inhaled and exhaled in respiration. (noun)
• The act or process of breathing; respiration. (noun)
• The capacity to breathe, especially in a natural and unlabored manner: shortness of breath. (noun)
• Spirit or vitality; life. (noun)
• A single respiration: a deep breath. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Let me tell you such men don't waste one breath in mentioning anything that does not mean a big interest per cent, _not one breath_."
• ""Yet your gay laughter, Messire de Puysange, is after all but breath: and _breath_ also" -- the bishop's sharp eyes fixed Perion's -- "has a hackneyed rhyme.""
• "This waste comes from exhaling more breath (more motive power) than the tone requires, and _breath that does not become tone is wasted_."