inhale
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Draw deep into the lungs in by breathing.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnhaylSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnˈheɪl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Draw deep into the lungs in by breathing
“Clinton smoked marijuana but never inhaled.”
intransitive
To draw air into the lungs, through the nose or mouth by action of the diaphragm.
transitivefiguratively
To eat very quickly.
noun
An inhalation.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Draw deep into the lungs in by breathing
Used this way, inhale is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Clinton smoked marijuana but never inhaled.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use inhale
- “Clinton smoked marijuana but never inhaled.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A dispenser that produces a chemical vapor to be inhaled in order to relieve nasal congestion.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A gas that produces general anesthesia when inhaled.
A gas that produces general anesthesia when inhaled.
A gas that produces general anesthesia when inhaled.
A gas that produces general anesthesia when inhaled.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- breatheverb
- inhalationnoun
- breathnoun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.