Definitions for: Respiration


[n] the metabolic processes whereby certain organisms obtain energy from organic moelcules; processes that take place in the cells and tissues during which energy is released and carbon dioxide is produced and absorbed by the blood to be transported to the lungs
[n] the bodily process of inhalation and exhalation; the process of taking in oxygen from inhaled air and releasing carbon dioxide by exhalation
[n] a single complete act of breathing in and out; "thirty respirations per minute"



Webster (1913) Definition: Res`pi*ra"tion (r?s`p?*r?"sh?n), n. [L.
respiratio: cf. F. respiration. See Respire.]
1. The act of respiring or breathing again, or catching one's
breath.

2. Relief from toil or suffering: rest. [Obs.]

Till the day Appear of respiration to the just And
vengeance to the wicked. --Milton.

3. Interval; intermission. [Obs.] --Bp. Hall.

4. (Physiol.) The act of resping or breathing; the act of
taking in and giving out air; the aggregate of those
processes bu which oxygen is introduced into the system,
and carbon dioxide, or carbonic acid, removed.

Note: Respiration in the higher animals is divided into:
(a) Internal respiration, or the interchange of
oxygen and carbonic acid between the cells of the body
and the bathing them, which in one sense is a process
of nutrition. (b) External respiration, or the
gaseous interchange taking place in the special
respiratory organs, the lungs. This constitutes
respiration proper. --Gamgee. In the respiration of
plants oxygen is likewise absorbed and carbonic acid
exhaled, but in the light this process is obscured by
another process which goes on with more vigor, in which
the plant inhales and absorbs carbonic acid and exhales
free oxygen.

Synonyms: breathing, cellular respiration, external respiration, internal respiration, ventilation

See Also: abdominal breathing, activity, artificial respiration, aspiration, bodily function, bodily process, body process, breathing in, breathing out, Cheyne-Stokes respiration, eupnea, eupnoea, exhalation, expiration, heaving, hyperpnea, hyperventilation, hypopnea, inhalation, inspiration, metabolic process, metabolism, metastasis, panting, periodic breathing, second wind, smoke, smoking, sniffle, snivel, snore, snoring, snuffle, stertor, wheeze

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