breathing

noun

1. (countable, form-of, noun-from-verb, uncountable)verbal noun of breathe: (uncountable) The act of respiration; (countable) a single instance of this.

   “[…] their breathings, cryings, and excretings would have been damaged […]”

2. (countable, uncountable)A diacritical mark indicating aspiration or lack thereof.
3. (archaic, countable, uncountable)Time to recover one's breath; hence, a delay, a spell of time.

   “DON PEDRO. Count Claudio, when mean you to go to church? / CLAUDIO. To-morrow, my lord. Time goes on crutches till love have all his rites. / LEONATO. Not till Monday, my dear son, which is hence a just seven-night; and a time too brief too, to have all things answer my mind. / DON PEDRO. Come, you shake the head at so long a breathing; but, I warrant thee, Claudio, the time shall not go dully by us.”

4. (countable, uncountable)Any gentle influence or operation; inspiration.

   “the breathings of the Holy Spirit”

5. (countable, uncountable)Aspiration; secret prayer.

   “Let us then begin Heaven here, in the Frame and Temper of our Minds, in our heavenly Affections and Converſation; in a due Prepation for, and in earneſt Deſires and Breathings after that bleſſed State vvhich vve firmly believe and aſſuredly hope to be one day poſſeſſed of: […]”

adj

1. (not-comparable)Having life; living; alive.

   “Elantris is quite an exceptional read, a wonderfully rich world of living breathing characters, great plot, and some very original ideas.”

verb

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of breathe