BREEZE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does breeze mean? 

• BREEZE (noun)
  The noun BREEZE has 2 senses:

1. a slight wind (usually refreshing)

2. any undertaking that is easy to do

  Familiarity information: BREEZE used as a noun is rare.

• BREEZE (verb)
  The verb BREEZE has 2 senses:

1. blow gently and lightly

2. to proceed quickly and easily

  Familiarity information: BREEZE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BREEZE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A slight wind (usually refreshing)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

air; breeze; gentle wind; zephyr

Context example:

as he waited he could feel the air on his neck

Hypernyms ("breeze" is a kind of...):

air current; current of air; wind (air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "breeze"):

sea breeze (a cooling breeze from the sea (during the daytime))

breath (a slight movement of the air)

light air (wind moving 1-3 knots; 1 on the Beaufort scale)

light breeze (wind moving 4-7 knots; 2 on the Beaufort scale)

gentle breeze (wind moving 8-12 knots; 3 on the Beaufort scale)

moderate breeze (wind moving 13-18 knots; 4 on the Beaufort scale)

fresh breeze (wind moving 19-24 knots; 5 on the Beaufort scale)

strong breeze (wind moving 25-31 knots; 6 on the Beaufort scale)

Derivation:

breeze (blow gently and lightly)

breezy (abounding in or exposed to the wind or breezes)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any undertaking that is easy to do

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

breeze; child's play; cinch; duck soup; picnic; piece of cake; pushover; snap; walkover

Context example:

marketing this product will be no picnic

Hypernyms ("breeze" is a kind of...):

labor; project; task; undertaking (any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "breeze"):

doddle (an easy task)

Derivation:

breeze (to proceed quickly and easily)

• BREEZE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they breeze    ... he / she / it breezes   
Past simple: breezed   
Past participle: breezed   
-ing form: breezing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Blow gently and lightly

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Context example:

It breezes most evenings at the shore

Hypernyms (to "breeze" is one way to...):

blow (be blowing or storming)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
It is ----ing
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

breeze (a slight wind (usually refreshing))

Sense 2

Meaning:

To proceed quickly and easily

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "breeze" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Also:

breeze through (succeed at easily)

Derivation:

breeze (any undertaking that is easy to do)

 Context examples 

His head was very near to hers, and when wandering phantoms of breeze stirred her hair so that it touched his face, the printed pages swam before his eyes.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Once the grasses are gone, the sands start moving, their grains carried to new destinations by passing breezes.

(Sleeping sands of the Kalahari awaken after more than 10,000 years, NSF)

As he entered Wilson pulled the canary-yellow handkerchief from his waist, and going to the corner post, he tied it to the top of it, where it remained fluttering in the breeze.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I uncovered it, and a gentle breeze quickly fanned it into a flame.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

It was a fresh breeze, very fresh, but I resolved to run as long as I dared.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

There was not a soul stirring nor a sound beside the noises of the breeze.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

With a northerly breeze it lies placid and sheltered, inviting the storm-tossed craft to tack into it for rest and protection.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The storm had died down now to a gentle breeze, which wafted to his ears the long-drawn stirring bugle-calls which sounded from the ancient ramparts.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I opened the glass-door in the breakfast-room: the shrubbery was quite still: the black frost reigned, unbroken by sun or breeze, through the grounds.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The birds talked of it, the squirrels chattered about it, the very breeze whispered of it.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)