What does lungful mean?
Lungful is an informal noun denoting the amount of air a person breathes in at one time, especially a deep breath. It also has a figurative use for something refreshing, invigorating, or pleasantly new, as in the familiar phrase “a lungful of fresh air.” The expression can describe a literal breath of clean air, a walk or landscape that revives the spirits, or occasionally a welcome new person or change of surroundings. Lungful is most characteristic of British English, though it is understood and sometimes used in American English; in American contexts it may sound literary or less everyday than breath. Because the word focuses on a full, satisfying intake of air, it carries associations of relief, energy, and space after confinement or exertion. The countable noun normally appears in the singular as “a lungful,” though the plural “lungfuls” is also standard. Its vivid imagery makes it particularly useful when the quality or impact of a breath matters rather than merely the physical act of breathing.
nounAn amount of air breathed into or held in the lungs, especially a deep breath. By extension, it refers to something refreshing, invigorating, or pleasantly new.
- A quantity of air breathed into the lungs, especially a deep breath.
- Figuratively, a refreshing or invigorating experience or change, as in “a lungful of fresh air.”
"After the long climb, he drew a lungful of cold mountain air and felt ready to continue."
"He drew a lungful of deep air and felt the tension leave his shoulders."
"A walk by the river was a lungful of fresh air after weeks in the crowded city."
The plural is standard, although the set phrase “a lungful of fresh air” is normally singular.
"She took two lungfuls of cold air before reaching the ridge."
One breath can be a whole escape: a lungful of fresh air is language's antidote to stuffy surroundings.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lungful come from?
The word is an English compound of lung and the suffix -ful, giving it the underlying sense of a full breath or an amount filling the lungs. Lung continues Old English lunga, the name of the organ, and has cognates in other Germanic languages, including German Lunge and Dutch long. Compounds such as lungfish and lungwort retain the same English base, while lungful developed to denote a quantity of inhaled air and, figuratively, an invigorating experience.
Related word forms
How lungful is actually used
The word is most characteristic of British English and has an informal, vivid quality. It is less common in American English, where it may sound literary or distinctly old-fashioned. The figurative sense usually appears in the construction “a lungful of...”
Easily confused with lungful
A lung is the bodily organ, whereas a lungful is the breath or amount of air taken into it.