🗓️ Idiom: Take a Deep Breath (verb)
💬 Meaning
- To pause, stay calm, and control your emotions before reacting.
- To prepare yourself mentally for something difficult or stressful.
🧠 Example Sentences
- Before starting her big presentation, Emma took a deep breath and smiled at the audience.
- When the meeting became tense, the manager told everyone to take a deep breath and refocus.
- He took a deep breath before calling the unhappy client to discuss the problem.
🏛️ Origin
The phrase comes from the natural action of breathing deeply to reduce stress or tension. People have long used deep breathing to relax the body and clear the mind. Now it is a common expression for staying calm or preparing for something challenging.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Before answering the difficult question, she ________ to calm herself down.
Answer
took a deep breath
2. Choose the correct answer:
What does “take a deep breath” mean?
a) Become angry quickly
b) Stay calm and prepare
c) Start running fast
Answer
b) Stay calm and prepare
3. Change the sentence using “take a deep breath”:
“He paused for a moment to relax before sending the email.”
Answer
He took a deep breath before sending the email.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
📚 Learning Resources
👉 Stress Management Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
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