▪ I. exhale, v.1
(ɛgz-, ɛksˈheɪl)
Forms: 5 exale, 6 exhall, 7 exhael, 8 exhal, 7– exhale.
[ad. F. exhaler, ad. L. exhālā-re to breathe out, evaporate, f. ex- out + hālāre to breathe.]
I. To give, pass, or draw off in vapour.
1. trans. To breathe, give forth, or disengage from the surface; to send up (fumes, gas, vapour, etc.): to give off in vapour. Also fig.
| a 1628 Sir J. Beaumont Epiph. in Farr S.P. Jas. I (1848) 144 We shall exhale our vapours vp direct. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 29 It had lost near two drams of its former weight, which was exhaled by insensible Transpiration. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 421 Nor doth the Moon no nourishment exhale, From her moist Continent to higher Orbes. 1727 De Foe Syst. Magic i. iv. (1840) 103 The vapours which by their acquired heat they have exhaled. 1772 Sir W. Jones Laura Poems (1777) 80 Every bower exhal'd the sweets of May. 1805 W. Saunders Min. Waters 248 This mineral water..exhales no perceptible smell. 1849 M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. xxvii. 301 They [plants] exhale oxygen. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit., Civiliz. Wks. (Bohn) III. 38 Eloquence..may warm itself until it exhales symbols of every kind and colour. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 67 Water..exhaled from the leaves of plants and from the lungs and skin of animals. |
2. intr. Of vapour, perfume, † heat, etc.: To pass off into the air. Of a liquid, etc.: To pass off as vapour; to evaporate. Const. from, out of.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. ii. iii. 149 (MS. B) Spirites exaleþ whyche þat buþ frendys, boþe to þe body & eke to þe soule. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 303 Se the floode be goode ther thou will duelle: For ofte of it exaleth myst impure. 1626 Bacon Sylva §399 Fire doth lick up the Spirits and Blood of the Body, so as they exhale. 1641 French Distill. iii. (1651) 66 Let it be melted..with a soft fire, that all the moisture may exhale. 1707 Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 257 Cover the Earth with good Straw-Mats, that the Heat may not exhale. 1718 J. Chamberlayne Relig. Philos. (1730) II. xviii. §6 The same has been observed as to Acid Liquors, by the sowre Smell that exhales from them. 1799 G. Smith Laborat. I. 329 When the matrass is made red hot, sulphurous matters will exhale. 1860 Emerson Cond. Life, Worship Wks. (Bohn) II. 407 When flowers reach their ripeness, incense exhales from them. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iv. vii, As if all our dearest friends lives had exhaled with his. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 255 When Orient Light Exhaling first from Darkness they beheld. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 710 His Hopes exhal'd in empty Smoke. 1849–50 Alison Hist. Europe III. xviii. §35. 561 His indignation exhaled in a letter to the Count d'Artois. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. I. 174 The illusion and lifelikeness..exhales out of a picture as it grows old. |
3. Phys. and Path. Of animal fluids: To pass off in minute quantities through a membrane or blood-vessel. Also in pass.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 126 (MS. A) Þei loken if ony þing exale out bi þilke rimelle—as blod or ony other mater. 1830 R. Knox Béclard's Anat. 79 The fluid which the ultimate ramifications of the arteries exhale in it [the cellular tissue]. 1834 M{supc}Murtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 19 The extremities of the vessels simply spread themselves over large surfaces, whence the produced fluid exhales. 1836 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 401/1 Blood is..rarely exhaled at the internal surface of the bladder. 1865 Morn. Star 23 Feb., The blood merely oozes through the coats of the relaxed vessels—in medical phrase we say it is exhaled. |
4. trans. To draw up or drive off in the form of vapour; to evaporate; rarely, † to draw up (a vapour); to draw out the perfume of (e.g. a rose).
| 1589 Nashe in Greene's Menaphon Pref. (Arb.) 9 The Sea exhaled by drops, will in continuance be drie. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. v. 13 Yon Light..is some Meteor that the Sun exhales. 1622 T. Scott Belg. Pismire 53 The Sunne exhales vapours from the Sea. 1626 Bacon Sylva §413 The November Rose is the sweetest, having been less exhaled by the Sun. 1641 French Distill. iii. (1651) 65 These Salts must..be calcined, which is done by exhaling their flegme. 1707 Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 235 A prodigious Quantity of clear Water must be exhal'd, to get an Ounce of dry Sediments. 1825 Scott Talism. i, Bitumen and sulphur, which the burning sun exhaled from the waters of the lake. 1836 Emerson Nature, Prospects Wks. (Bohn) II. 173 The..filths of nature, the sun shall dry up, and the wind exhale. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 70 Thou, faire Sun, which on my earth doest shine, Exhalest this vapor-vow. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 105 Teares..not sufficient to exhale and evaporate the heavinesse of her heart. 1725–6 Pope Odyss. xxii. 431 The warm sun exhales their soul away. |
II. To breathe or blow forth from within.
5. To breathe out (life, soul, words, a prayer, etc.).
| 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 57 Hee exhaled into his eyes such deepe impression of his perfection, as that, etc. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xviii. 196 Twelue men, of greatest strength in Troy, left with their liues exhald. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. i. xiii. §3 (1622) 140 In these miserable torments, they both..exhaled their execrable soules. a 1638 Mede Chr. Sacrif. v. Wks. ii. (1672) 362 An Oration exhaled..from sanctified Souls. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague i. i. 355 And silent words Of mercy breathed from heaven will be exhaled..into thy wither'd heart. 1885 Clodd Myths & Dr. ii. ix. 203 The Romans, conceived the soul..as exhaled with the dying breath. |
6. To blow off (as steam); chiefly fig. to get rid of (enthusiasm, wrath, etc.) as if by blowing. Also, to exhale oneself. Cf. blow v. 10.
| 1745 Fortunate Orphan 237, I exhaled my Grief in the bitterest Exclamations. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xi. 92 A...suffered him to exhale his passion in..oaths. 1831 T. L. Peacock Crotchet Castle viii. 104 To narrate his misadventures, and exhale his budget of grievances. 1845 Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) I. 341, I have exhaled myself with a paragraph or two in my journal on the sin of Brazilian slavery. 1860 Piesse Lab. Chem. Wonders 9 Sulphur is exhaled from the volcanoes at the time of their activity. 1860 W. Collins Wom. White ii. narr. viii. 245, I..exhale the rest of my enthusiasm in the open air. 1867 Month 512, I could not exhale my wrath before his grace. |
7. intr. To make an expiration; opposed to inhale.
| 1863 Tyndall Heat iii. 54 When we exhale, we pour out from the lungs carbonic acid. |
Hence exˈhaled ppl. a. (in senses 1 and 4).
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 779 Let their exhaled unwholesome breaths make sick The life of purity. 1596 ― 1 Hen. IV, v. i. 19 Will you..be no more an exhall'd Meteor. 1635 Swan Spec. M. v. §2 (1643) 180 That which we call a fired whirl⁓wind, being an exhaled blast set on fire. |
▪ II. † exˈhale, v.2 Obs.
Also 6 exhall.
[f. ex- prefix + hale v.]
To drag out or draw forth.
1. trans. To drag (a person) away; to draw (a thing) out of. Also absol. to draw (a sword) from the scabbard.
| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, ii. i 66 O Braggard vile..The Graue doth gape, and doting death is neere, Therefore exhale. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster iii. i. Wks. (Rtldg.) 116/1 Nay, I beseech you, gentlemen, do not exhale me thus. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 400 A mouse being flead..and put unto a wound.. will presently..exhale and draw them [the head of a dart, etc.] out of the same. 1615 T. Adams Spir. Navigators 34 Couetous wretches, that would dig to the Center to exhale riches. |
b. To cause (blood, tears) to flow. Const. from. (Prob. influenced by exhale v. 4.)
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. ii. 58 'Tis thy presence that exhales this blood From cold and empty Veines. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. ix. (1632) 633 These words exhaled ioyfull teares from many of the hearers. 1613 W. Browne Brit. Past. i. v, That did from Fida's eyes salt teares exhale. |
2. To draw up; raise (a person) to a higher position. rare. Cf. exalt v. 2.
| 1595 Markham Sir R. Grinvile B vij b, Thou..Whom men adore, and all the gods exhall [rime call] Into the books of endlesse memorie. 1604 Drayton Owle 689 They whose Minds should be exhal'd and hie. 1647 Ward Simp. Cobler 48 When Kings rise higher than they should, they exhale Subjects higher than they would. |