breeze

1 [breez] noun, verb, breezed, breez·ing.
noun
1.
a wind or current of air, especially a light or moderate one.
2.
a wind of 4–31 miles per hour (2–14 m/sec).
3.
Informal. an easy task; something done or carried on without difficulty: Finding people to join in the adventure was a breeze.
4.
Chiefly British Informal. a disturbance or quarrel.
verb (used without object)
5.
(of the wind) to blow a breeze (usually used impersonally with it as subject): It breezed from the west all day.
6.
to move in a self-confident or jaunty manner: She breezed up to the police officer and asked for directions.
7.
Informal. to proceed quickly and easily; move rapidly without intense effort (often followed by along, into, or through ): He breezed through the task. The car breezed along the highway.
00:10
Breeze is one of our favorite verbs.
So is skedaddle. Does it mean:
to run away hurriedly; flee.
to bark; yelp.
verb (used with object)
8.
to cause to move in an easy or effortless manner, especially at less than full speed: The boy breezed the horse around the track.
9.
breeze in, Slang.
a.
to win effortlessly: He breezed in with an election plurality of 200,000.
b.
Also, breeze intoout. to move or act with a casual or careless attitude: He breezed out without paying attention to anyone.
10.
breeze up, Atlantic States. to become windy.
11.
shoot/bat the breeze, Slang.
a.
to converse aimlessly; chat.
b.
to talk nonsense or exaggerate the truth: He likes to shoot the breeze, so don't take everything he says seriously.

Origin:
1555–65; earlier brize, brise north or northeast wind; compare Dutch bries, East Frisian brîse, French brize, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan brisa, Italian brezza; orig. and path of transmission disputed

breeze·less, adjective
breeze·like, adjective


1. See wind1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

breeze

2 [breez]
noun
1.
cinders, ash, or dust from coal, coke, or charcoal.
2.
concrete, brick, or cinder block in which such materials form a component.

Origin:
1720–30; variant of dial. brays < French braise live coals, cinders; see braze2

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
breeze1 (briːz) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a gentle or light wind
2.  meteorol a wind of force two to six inclusive on the Beaufort scale
3.  informal an easy task or state of ease: being happy here is a breeze
4.  informal chiefly (Brit) a disturbance, esp a lively quarrel
5.  informal shoot the breeze to chat
 
vb
6.  to move quickly or casually: he breezed into the room
7.  (of wind) to blow: the south wind breezed over the fields
 
[C16: probably from Old Spanish briza northeast wind]

breeze2 (briːz) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
an archaic or dialect name for the gadfly
 
[Old English briosa, of unknown origin]

breeze3 (briːz) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
ashes of coal, coke, or charcoal used to make breeze blocks
 
[C18: from French braise live coals; see braise]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

breeze
1560s, "north or northeast wind," from O.Sp. briza "cold northeast wind;" in W.Indies and Spanish Main, the sense shifting to "northeast trade wind," then "fresh wind from the sea." English sense of "gentle or light wind" is from 1620s. An alternative possibility is that the English word is from E.Fris.
brisen "to blow fresh and strong." The slang for "something easy" is Amer.Eng., c.1928; breezeway is 1931, Amer.Eng.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

breeze definition


  1. n.
    an easy task. : Nothing to it. It was a breeze.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

breeze

In addition to the idiom beginning with breeze, also see hands down (in a breeze); shoot the breeze.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

breeze

air current designation on the Beaufort scale; it is weaker than a wind, which in turn is weaker than a gale. Breeze also denotes various local winds (e.g., sea breeze, land breeze, valley breeze, mountain breeze) generated by unequal diurnal heating and cooling of adjacent areas of the Earth's surface. These breezes are strongest in warm, clear, dry weather, when daytime insolation, or solar radiation, is most intense. They may be reinforced or prevented by winds of passing pressure systems

Learn more about breeze with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
But, on the lunar surface where the only breeze is the solar wind, there is an eerie permanence.
Today, more and more people are using wind turbines to wring electricity from the breeze.
In fact, the conjunction of cleared and forested lands actually creates wind known as a vegetation breeze.
The windows were all flung open, but there wasn't even the hint of a breeze, not even the slightest wind coming in from outside.
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