life-breath
Definition
- Noun:
- Vital force or spirit: "life-breath" refers to the essential force or energy that sustains life; often used metaphorically to describe a necessary or animating element.
- Breath of life: The literal or figurative breath that keeps something alive, active, or functioning.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- The old man’s life-breath faded as the night grew cold. (His vital force or breath of life diminished.)
- Music is the life-breath of this festival; without it, the celebration would die. (Music is the essential, animating element.)
Advanced Usage
- "the life-breath of something": the most essential or fundamental part that gives vitality to a system, idea, or activity.
- Freedom of speech is the life-breath of a democratic society. (It is the crucial, sustaining force.)
Variants and Related Words
- Life (n): the condition of being alive; existence.
- She cherishes every moment of her life. (Her existence.)
- Breath (n): the air taken into and expelled from the lungs; a single act of breathing.
- He took a deep breath before speaking. (An inhalation of air.)
Synonyms
- Vitality: the state of being strong and active; energy.
- Essence: the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something.
- Soul: the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or thing regarded as its true essence.
Related Idioms
The breath of life: something that is essential to the existence or continuation of something.
- Hope is the breath of life for those in despair. (Hope is a vital, sustaining force.)
To give one’s life-breath for something: to sacrifice everything, including one’s life, for a cause.
- The soldiers gave their life-breath for their country. (They sacrificed their lives.)