idiom · informal
catch one's breath
/kætʃ wʌnz brɛθ/CATCH one's BREATH
speaking
to stop briefly to breathe properly after physical effort or shock
Examples
“I had to stop and catch my breath halfway up the hill.”
“She sat down to catch her breath after running for ten minutes.”
“The surprise left him speechless until he could catch his breath.”
Band 8 sentence
“After sprinting for the bus she paused to catch her breath and then apologised for being late.”
Collocations
- stop to catch one's breath
- need to catch my breath
Word family
catch one's breath idiomcatch my/your/his/her breath verb phrase
Common mistakes
I need to catch me breath.→I need to catch my breath.
I catch my breath now.→I need to catch my breath now.
Say it for a higher band
5rest→6take a rest→7+catch one's breath
Synonyms
take a breather
Easily confused
take a breather
“He took a breather before starting the next task.”
Related words
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In Health
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