catch one's breath
"catch-one-s-breath" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“catch one's breath” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 18
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - to take a break, or rest while doing a strenuous activity, so that one's breathing becomes easier
Corpus desk
Index EN-catch-one-s-breath · catch one's breath · English
catch one's breath · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 18 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | catch one's breath |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 18 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “catch one's breath” in English
Rare enough to double-check
catch one's breath is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for catch one's breath in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is catch one's breath, spelled C-A-T-C-H- -O-N-E-'-S- -B-R-E-A-T-H.
Definition
- 1to take a break, or rest while doing a strenuous activity, so that one's breathing becomes easier
- 2to take in a breath sharply and hold it, usually in reaction to a sudden shock, or surprise
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how catch one's breath appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
They stood for a moment at the end of the set to catch their breath before resuming play.
John caught his breath when he saw the bottle rolling unstoppably towards the opposite edge of the table.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.