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wheeze

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wheeze

[hweez, weez] verb, wheezed, wheez⋅ing, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to breathe with difficulty and with a whistling sound: Asthma caused him to wheeze.
2. to make a sound resembling difficult breathing: The old locomotive wheezed into the station.
–noun
3. a wheezing breath or sound.
4. an old and frequently used joke, saying, story, etc.

Origin:
1425–75; late ME whese (v.), prob. < ON hvæsa to hiss


wheezer, noun
wheez⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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wheeze   (hwēz, wēz)   
v.   wheezed, wheez·ing, wheez·es

v.   intr.
  1. To breathe with difficulty, producing a hoarse whistling sound.

  2. To make a sound resembling laborious breathing.

v.   tr.
To produce or utter with a hoarse whistling sound: The old locomotive wheezed steam.
n.  
  1. A wheezing sound.

  2. Informal An old joke.


[Middle English whesen, probably from Old Norse hvæsa, to hiss; see kwes- in Indo-European roots.]
wheez'er n., wheez'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

wheeze  (v.)
c.1460, probably from a Scand. source (cf. O.N. hvoesa "to hiss," Dan. hvæse) cognate with O.E. hwæst "act of blowing," hwosan "to cough," from an imitative base. The noun is first recorded 1834.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1wheeze
Pronunciation: 'hwEz, 'wEz
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Forms: wheezed; wheez·ing
: tobreathe with difficulty usually with a whistling sound

Main Entry: 2wheeze
Function: noun
: a sibilant whistling sound caused by difficult or obstructed respiration
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

wheeze (wēz)
v. wheezed, wheez·ing, wheez·es
To breathe with difficulty, producing a hoarse whistling sound. n.
A wheezing sound.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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