breather
/ˈbɹiː.ðə(ɹ)/ noun
Forms breathers
- noun Something or someone that breathes.
- noun (specifically) A heavy breather.
- noun (colloquial) A short break; a rest or respite. “After a short breather she was ready to continue up the hill.”
- noun (physics) A spatially localized, time-periodic excitation in a one-dimensional lattice.
- noun (colloquial, dated) That which puts one out of breath, such as vigorous exercise.
- noun (mechanics) An air inlet path to the crankcase
Synonyms
hiatus moratorium recess breath breathing place breathing space breathing spell breathing time snorkel schnorkel schnorchel snorkel breather
Etymology
From breathe + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (relational noun suffix).
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “breather”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details