hyperventilate

verb

hy·​per·​ven·​ti·​late ˌhī-pər-ˈven-tə-ˌlāt 

hyperventilated; hyperventilating; hyperventilates

intransitive verb

: to breathe rapidly and deeply : undergo hyperventilation

Did you know?

Hyperventilating can be a response to fear and anxiety. A test pilot who panics and hyperventilates faces a dangerous situation. When the level of carbon dioxide in your blood goes down and the oxygen level goes up, blood vessels constrict because of the chemical changes and the body can't get enough oxygen (even though it's there in the blood), and the pilot can become lightheaded and may even faint. To guard against this, pilots are taught to control their breathing. On the ground, the usual remedy for hyperventilation is breathing into a paper bag, which raises the level of carbon dioxide and restores normal breathing.

Synonyms

• blow
• gasp
• heave
• pant
• puff
• wheeze

Examples of hyperventilate in a Sentence

The boy panicked and began hyperventilating.

he was so nervous he began hyperventilating, and the extra oxygen made him dizzy

Recent Examples on the Web

Getting short of breath often brings on anxiety that causes some people to start to hyperventilate. —Sarah Klein, TIME, 20 Nov. 2024

Juliana Peres Magalhães, the nanny for a suburban Virginia family who pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month in a double homicide case, can be seen hyperventilating in new police body camera footage from the Fairfax County Police Department. —Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 9 Nov. 2024

Learning that Simone Biles attended her gold-medal-winning performance in the long jump, 25-year-old Tara Davis-Woodhall combusted, sounding like a hyperventilating teenager. —Brendan Quinn, The Athletic, 11 Aug. 2024

Wall Street has been hyperventilating over Nvidia and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. —Howard Yu, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1931, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

hyperventilate

verb

hy·​per·​ven·​ti·​late -ˈvent-ᵊl-ˌāt 

hyperventilated; hyperventilating

intransitive verb

: to breathe rapidly and deeply : undergo hyperventilation

some swimmers hyperventilate

transitive verb

: to subject to hyperventilation

he hyperventilated his lungs by deep breathing