WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Res`pi*ra"tion (rs`p*r"shn)
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [L. respiratio: cf. F. respiration. See Respire.]
Definition : 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.)

Defn: 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.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913