catch one's breath

Related to catch one's breath: bated, in the same breath

catch (one's) breath

1. To resume or try to resume breathing normally after a physically taxing activity that results in heavy breathing. Can we stop for a minute? I need to catch my breath—I can't run as fast as you guys!
2. To stop breathing momentarily as a result of fear or surprise. I caught my breath when I saw the gruesome injuries Adam had sustained in the accident.
See also: breath, catch
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

catch one's breath

1. Resume normal breathing after physical exertion of some kind, as in These stairs are steep; wait a minute till I catch my breath. This phrase once meant the same as hold one's breath-that is, stop breathing momentarily-a usage no longer current. [Early 1800s]
2. Relax, take a rest, as in Events have been moving so fast I'd like to stop and catch my breath. [First half of 1900s]
See also: breath, catch
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • catch (one's) breath
  • catch breath
  • catch your breath
  • breathing spell
  • time to catch (one's) breath
  • time to catch breath
  • second wind, to get one's
  • pick (something) up where (one) left off
  • let (one) get on with (something)
  • let get on with
References in periodicals archive
This evening's vigorous menuetto was apparently not meant for dancing, with scant time to catch one's breath after the trio.
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Things are no longer moving along at the break-neck pace they were last year, but the slight hesitation is welcome, one can catch one's breath.
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However, this opportunity to "catch one's breath"-- what Strauss and associates call "woodshedding"--may be a sign of a healthy marshaling of resources towards continued progress (Strauss, et al, 1985).
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Such triggers cause the muscles surrounding the airways to contract, leading to an inability to catch one's breath. But muscle contraction is just part of the asthma story.
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Pausing to catch one's breath at this image of armed canvassers pushing across the border with registration on their minds, one notes that the improvised lying of the State Department raises a thorny question for Congress.
Minority report