rhizoverbBeta
DictionarywheezeNoisy breathing
verb / noun

wheeze

WEEZ/wiːz/

Breathing with a whistling or rasping sound.

I wheeze whenever cold air makes my asthma flare up.

A woman visibly struggling to breathe while a clinician listens closely to her chest with a stethoscope; a rescue inhaler beside her reinforces a narrowed-airway breathing episode rather than exertion or coughing.
Etymology
wheezeOld Norseto hiss

Wheeze probably comes from a Scandinavian word such as Old Norse hvoesa, “to hiss.” The connection is sound imitation: rough, whistling breathing resembles a hiss.

More examples

  • The doctor hears a faint wheeze in his chest.
  • She starts wheezing after walking through the dusty attic.
  • He coughed and wheezed as he struggled to catch his breath.

Forms

wheeze · wheezes · wheezed · wheezing

wheezy adjective — Making a whistling or rasping breathing sound.

Similar words

rasp
A rough, scraping sound, not necessarily made while breathing.
whistle
A clear, high-pitched sound, not necessarily caused by breathing.