draw breath

Meanings

1. 1phraseidiom

   to take air into your lungs; to breathe

   Grammar: Used without an object; often in the phrase 'without drawing breath'.

   Patterns

   • draw breath
   • without drawing breath

   After running up the stairs, she paused to draw breath.

   He spoke for an hour without drawing breath.

   The patient struggled to draw breath after the accident.

2. 2phraseidiom

   to pause and rest, especially after effort or to think

   Grammar: Often used in negative contexts: 'didn't have time to draw breath'.

   Patterns

   • not have time to draw breath
   • hardly draw breath

   We worked all day without drawing breath.

   She didn't have a moment to draw breath between meetings.

   The team hardly drew breath before the next project started.

Common combinations

without drawing breath

He listed all the reasons without drawing breath.

hardly draw breath

They hardly drew breath during the entire performance.

pause to draw breath

She paused to draw breath before continuing her speech.

not have time to draw breath

With three kids, she doesn't have time to draw breath.

Synonyms and how they differ

breathe

The everyday verb; draw breath is more formal and often implies effort or a pause.

rest

Focuses on stopping activity, while draw breath emphasizes recovering your breathing.

Commonly confused: draw breath or draw a breath?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “draw breath”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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