with bated breath, with breath drawn in or held because of anticipation or suspense: We watched with bated breath as the runners approached the finish line.
Origin: 1250–1300; Middle English, aphetic variant of abate
c.1300, "to contend with blows or arguments," from O.Fr. batre "to hit, beat, strike," from L.L. battere, from L. batuere "to beat, knock" (see batter (v.)). In falconry, "to beat the wings impatiently and flutter away from the perch." Figurative sense of "to flutter downward" attested from 1580s.