3. Interval; intermission. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.
4. (Physiol.)
Defn: The act of resping or breathing; the act of taking in and giving out air; the aggregate of those processes bu which oxygen is introduced into the system, and carbon dioxide, or carbonic acid, removed.
Note: Respiration in the higher animals is divided into: (a) Internal respiration, or the interchange of oxygen and carbonic acid between the cells of the body and the bathing them, which in one sense is a process of nutrition. (b) External respiration, or the gaseous interchange taking place in the special respiratory organs, the lungs. This constitutes respiration proper. Gamgee. In the respiration of plants oxygen is likewise absorbed and carbonic acid exhaled, but in the light this process is obscured by another process which goes on with more vigor, in which the plant inhales and absorbs carbonic acid and exhales free oxygen.
RESPIRATIONAL
Res`pi*ra"tion*al (rs`p*r"shn-al), a.
Defn: Of or pertaining to respiration; as, respirational difficulties.
RESPIRATIVE
Re*spir"a*tive (r*sp*r*tv), a.
Defn: Of or pertaining to respiration; as, respirative organs.
RESPIRATOR
Res"pi*ra`tor (rs"p*r`tr), n. Etym: [Cf. F. respirateur.]
Defn: A divice of gauze or wire, covering the mouth or nose, to prevent the inhalation of noxious substances, as dust or smoke. Being warmed by the breath, it tempers cold air passing through it, and may also be used for the inhalation of medicated vapors.