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Bated Breath Waited In The Loop 784 Breathing Fear Excitement Strong

Id in_the_loop_784
Idiom WITH BATED BREATH
Definition hardly breathing at all because of fear, excitement, or other strong emotion
Examples
  1. Alan took out a small ring. Jennifer knew this was the moment, and she waited with bated breath for him to ask her to marry him.
  2. The swimmer stood silently with bated breath as he waited for the starter’s gun to go off.
Extra Info

Bated is a shortened form of abated, which means to lessen or put on hold. The first recorded use of bated is in 1596 in Shakespeare’s play Merchant of Venice: “With bated breath, and whisp’ring humblenesse.” The expression is used in situations in which someone is waiting tensely for something to happen.

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