n. [ L. respiratio: cf. F. respiration. See Respire. ] 1. The act of respiring or breathing again, or catching one's breath. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Relief from toil or suffering: rest. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Till the day
Appear of respiration to the just
And vengeance to the wicked. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Interval; intermission. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to respiration; as, respirational difficulties. [ 1913 Webster ]