breeze1

[breez] /briz/
noun
1.
a wind or current of air, especially a light or moderate one.
2.
a wind of 4–31 miles per hour (2–14 m/sec).
3.
Informal. an easy task; something done or carried on without difficulty:
Finding people to join in the adventure was a breeze.
4.
Chiefly British Informal. a disturbance or quarrel.
verb (used without object), breezed, breezing.
5.
(of the wind) to blow a breeze (usually used impersonally with it as subject):
It breezed from the west all day.
6.
to move in a self-confident or jaunty manner:
She breezed up to the police officer and asked for directions.
7.
Informal. to proceed quickly and easily; move rapidly without intense effort (often followed by along, into, or through):
He breezed through the task. The car breezed along the highway.
verb (used with object), breezed, breezing.
8.
to cause to move in an easy or effortless manner, especially at less than full speed:
The boy breezed the horse around the track.
Verb phrases
9.
breeze in, Slang.
  1. to win effortlessly:
    He breezed in with an election plurality of 200,000.
  2. Also, breeze into/out.to move or act with a casual or careless attitude:
    He breezed out without paying attention to anyone.
10.
breeze up, Atlantic States. to become windy.
Idioms
11.
shoot / bat the breeze, Slang.
  1. to converse aimlessly; chat.
  2. to talk nonsense or exaggerate the truth:
    He likes to shoot the breeze, so don't take everything he says seriously.
Origin
1555-65; earlier brize, brise north or northeast wind; compare Dutch bries, East Frisian brîse, French brize, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan brisa, Italian brezza; orig. and path of transmission disputed
Related forms
breezeless, adjective
breezelike, adjective
Synonyms
1. See wind1 .
British Dictionary definitions for shoot the breeze

breeze1

/briːz/
noun
1.
a gentle or light wind
2.
(meteorol) a wind of force two to six inclusive on the Beaufort scale
3.
(informal) an easy task or state of ease: being happy here is a breeze
4.
(informal, mainly Brit) a disturbance, esp a lively quarrel
5.
(informal) shoot the breeze, to chat
verb (intransitive)
6.
to move quickly or casually: he breezed into the room
7.
(of wind) to blow: the south wind breezed over the fields
Word Origin
C16: probably from Old Spanish briza northeast wind

breeze2

/briːz/
noun
1.
an archaic or dialect name for the gadfly
Word Origin
Old English briosa, of unknown origin

breeze3

/briːz/
noun
1.
ashes of coal, coke, or charcoal used to make breeze blocks
Word Origin
C18: from French braise live coals; see braise
Word Origin and History for shoot the breeze

breeze

n.

1560s, "north or northeast wind," from Old Spanish briza "cold northeast wind;" in West Indies and Spanish Main, the sense shifting to "northeast trade wind," then "fresh wind from the sea." English sense of "gentle or light wind" is from 1620s. An alternative possibility is that the English word is from East Frisian brisen "to blow fresh and strong." The slang for "something easy" is American English, c.1928.

v.

"move briskly," 1904, from breeze (n.). Related: Breezed; breezing.

Slang definitions & phrases for shoot the breeze

shoot the breeze

verb phrase

To chat amiably and casually; chew the fat: making transatlantic calls just to shoot the breeze/ enjoying ourselves and shooting the breeze/ sit down on a bench and shoot the fat (1941+)


breeze

noun
  1. An easy task; anything easy; cinch, cakewalk (1920s+ Baseball)
  2. : They had a breeze today at Ossining
verb
  1. To go or move rapidly and easily: to breeze through work/ I breezed out (1907+)
  2. To escape from prison (1940s+ Prison)

Idioms and Phrases with shoot the breeze

shoot the breeze

Also, shoot or throw the bull. Talk idly, chat, as in They've been sitting on the porch for hours, just shooting the breeze, or The guys sit around the locker room, throwing the bull. The first of these slangy terms, alluding to talking into the wind, was first recorded in 1919. In the variant, first recorded in 1908, bull is a shortening of bullshit, and means “empty talk” or “lies.”

breeze

In addition to the idiom beginning with
breeze
also see:
Encyclopedia Article for shoot the breeze

breeze

air current designation on the Beaufort scale; it is weaker than a wind, which in turn is weaker than a gale. Breeze also denotes various local winds (e.g., sea breeze, land breeze, valley breeze, mountain breeze) generated by unequal diurnal heating and cooling of adjacent areas of the Earth's surface. These breezes are strongest in warm, clear, dry weather, when daytime insolation, or solar radiation, is most intense. They may be reinforced or prevented by winds of passing pressure systems

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