Idiom
break wind
Meaning
To expel gases generated during digestion, especially through the anus; to fart.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He tried not to break wind during the meeting.”
“The dog ate too fast and started to break wind on the sofa.”
“In the awkward silence of the crowded lift, someone unmistakably broke wind, and no one dared to speak.”
Examples
simple
“He tried not to break wind during the meeting.”
contextual
“The dog ate too fast and started to break wind on the sofa.”
complex
“In the awkward silence of the crowded lift, someone unmistakably broke wind, and no one dared to speak.”
Origin
First attested in 1552, the expression is a compound of the verb *break* and the noun *wind*, the latter signifying flatulence. The construction finds a parallel in the Saterland Frisian *wiendje*.
Key words
Related idioms
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