Breath or breathe?
breath is a noun meaning “The act or process of breathing”; breathe is a verb meaning “To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to…”. Use breath as a noun and breathe as a verb. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) breath is about 1.8 times as common as breathe.
What is the difference between breath and breathe?
| breath | breathe | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, adjective | verb |
| Meaning | The act or process of breathing A single act of breathing in or out; a breathing of air voiceless, surd; contrasting with voice (breath sounds, voice sounds) | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases To take in needed gases and expel waste gases in a similar way |
| Example | I could hear the breath of the runner behind me | Fish have gills so they can breathe underwater |
| Forms | breaths | breathes, breathing, breathed |
| Pronunciation | /bɹɛθ/ [bɹ̠ʷɛθ] /bɹeθ/ | /bɹiːð/ /bɹið/ |
| In writing | 33 times per million words | 18 times per million words |
Sources: breath and breathe in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of breath and breathe
breath
- 1
The act or process of breathing
I could hear the breath of the runner behind me
- 2
voiceless, surd; contrasting with voice (breath sounds, voice sounds)
- 3
A single act of breathing in or out; a breathing of air
I took a deep breath and started the test
- 4
Air expelled from the lungs
I could feel the runner's breath on my shoulder
- 5
A rest or pause
Let's stop for a breath when we get to the top of the hill
- 6
A small amount of something, such as wind, or common sense
Even with all the windows open, there is hardly a breath of air in here
breathe
- 1
To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases
- 2
To take in needed gases and expel waste gases in a similar way
Fish have gills so they can breathe underwater
- 3
To inhale (a gas) to sustain life
While life as we know it depends on oxygen, scientists have speculated that alien life forms might breathe chlorine or methane
- 4
To live
I will not allow it, as long as I still breathe
- 5
To draw something into the lungs
Try not to breathe too much smoke
- 6
To expel air from the lungs, exhale
If you breathe on a mirror, it will fog up
- 7
To exhale or expel (something) in the manner of breath
The flowers breathed a heady perfume
- 8
To give an impression of, to exude
The decor positively breathes classical elegance
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, breath or breathe?
breath appears 33 times per million words; breathe 18 times per million words.
breath 33 times per million wordsbreathe 18 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search breath vs breathe?
“breath vs breathe” is searched about 27,100 times a month on Google and 930 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“breathe vs breath”, “breath or breathe”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.