verb
wheeze
eez
verb
1
To breathe with difficulty, making a rough whistling sound, often due to a respiratory problem.
"He wheezed his way up the stairs after the flu."
"The old dog wheezed softly in its sleep."
noun
1
A whistling, rasping sound made when breathing with difficulty.
"You could hear the wheeze in her chest through the stethoscope."
How to Use Wheeze
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA rough, whistling sound made when breathing is difficult, often linked to asthma or a cold.
Common pairings
wheeze and cough
a chesty wheeze
Word Forms
wheezed past tense, wheezes plural, wheezes singular
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Etymology
From Middle English whesen, possibly from an Old Norse word meaning "to hiss," tracing back to a root meaning "to pant."