apnea

noun

ap·​nea ˈap-nē-ə 

1

: transient cessation of respiration

especially : sleep apnea

2

: asphyxia sense 1

Examples of apnea in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile, other studies didn’t determine any evidence to support taping your mouth for reducing sleep-disordered breathing, snoring, or apnea. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 21 May 2025

Those younger than a year old can develop apnea (potentially deadly pauses in breathing), pneumonia, convulsions and encephalopathy (brain disease). —Tanya Lewis, Scientific American, 4 Apr. 2025

Those cessations in breathing are what constitutes apnea. —Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 19 May 2025

Babies who contract whooping cough may have a cold-like illness, struggle to breathe or have apnea, the CDC said. —Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 24 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from a- + -pnea

First Known Use

circa 1719, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing apnea

• sleep apnea

Medical Definition

apnea

noun

ap·​nea

variants or chiefly British apnoea

ˈap-nē-ə  ap-ˈnē- 

1

: transient cessation of respiration whether normal (as in hibernating animals) or abnormal (as that caused by certain drugs) see sleep apnea

2

: asphyxia

apneic adjective

or chiefly British apnoeic

ap-ˈnē-ik