Catch your breath means to start breathing normally again after running, climbing or hard work. Figuratively, it also means to have a break after a busy time: After the exams I finally had time to catch my breath. The second meaning is to stop breathing for a moment from surprise or fear: She caught her breath when the plane dropped.
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catch + my/your/his/her/our/their + breath; stop/pause to catch your breath; give someone time to catch their breath
- We stopped halfway up the hill to catch our breath and drink some water.
- Let me catch my breath — I've just run all the way from the station.
- I caught my breath when I saw how much the repairs would cost.
What changed
First versionI stopped at the corner to catch your breath.
RevisionI stopped at the corner to catch my breath.
In the dictionary form, your isn't a fixed word but a slot for a possessive that changes with the person who is resting: I catch my breath, she catches her breath. When the phrase is learnt as a single block, your gets copied as it is. The correction replaces your with my.
Hold your breath means to stop breathing on purpose: Hold your breath and count to ten. Catch your breath after running is the opposite: getting your breathing back to normal. And take a breath simply means to breathe in: Take a deep breath and relax.
Your turn
After running up five floors, I had to stop for a minute to ___.
Show the answer
catch my breath — After climbing five floors, you need to get your breathing back, so catch my breath. Hold my breath means to stop breathing on purpose, and nobody does that after running.
Describe a moment when you had to catch your breath. Say what you had been doing and how long you rested.
After carrying my suitcase up to the fourth floor, I sat on the stairs for five minutes to catch my breath.
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