hyperventilate

Definitions

To breathe quickly and deeply, especially at an abnormally rapid rate.

intransitive

Equivalents

Examples

“When I tried it, I hyperventilated.”

“Sometimes her prose hyperventilates ("Once, years ago, his and N.'s love⟳ for each other had glowed like⟳ phosphorescent fire on the surfaces of their bodies"), and she has a weakness for epiphanies ("There was a man, no longer young, though not yet old, who, traveling alone in northern Europe, began to feel⟳ that his soul was being drained slowly, almost secretly from him, drop by drop").”

“Sometimes on the highway I had to pull⟳ over to hyperventilate and sob.”

“Even some middle-of-the-road economic commentators have⟳ been hyperventilating, saying that she’s essentially calling for price controls, which is odd, because she didn’t say⟳ anything like⟳ that.”

CEFR level