wheeze
Noun · VerbUS[weez]/wiz/1 syllablealso [hweez] /hwiz/
Open English WordNet
Verb (1)wheezes, wheezed, wheezing
- breathe with difficultyMore general breathe, take a breath
Noun (2)wheezes
- breathing with a husky or whistling soundType of breathing, external respiration
- (Briticism) a clever or amusing scheme or trick“a clever wheeze probably succeeded in neutralizing the German espionage threat”Type of scheme, strategy
Word of the day · Sep 29About this word
haphazardadjective
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Wheeze intransitive verb [past tense & past participle Wheezed; present participle & verbal noun Wheezing.]
Origin: OE. whesen, AS. hwēsan (cf. Icel. hvæsa to hiss, Sw. hväsa, Dan. hvæse); akin to AS. hwōsta a cough, D. hoest, G. husten, OHG. huosto, Icel. hōsti, Lith. kosti to cough, Skr. kās. √43. Cf. Husky hoarse.
To breathe hard, and with an audible piping or whistling sound, as persons affected with asthma. “Wheezing lungs.” William Shakespeare
Wheeze noun
1. A piping or whistling sound caused by difficult respiration.
2. Phon. An ordinary whisper exaggerated so as to produce the hoarse sound known as the “stage whisper.” It is a forcible whisper with some admixture of tone.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54