Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Breathing \Breath"ing\, n.
   1. Respiration; the act of inhaling and exhaling air.

            Subject to a difficulty of breathing. --Melmoth.

   2. Air in gentle motion.

   3. Any gentle influence or operation; inspiration; as, the
      breathings of the Spirit.

   4. Aspiration; secret prayer. ``Earnest desires and
      breathings after that blessed state.'' --Tillotson.

   5. Exercising; promotion of respiration.

            Here is a lady that wants breathing too; And I have
            heard, you knights of Tyre Are excellent in making
            ladies trip.                          --Shak.

   6. Utterance; communication or publicity by words.

            I am sorry to give breathing to my purpose. --Shak.

   7. Breathing place; vent. --Dryden.

   8. Stop; pause; delay.

            You shake the head at so long a breathing. --Shak.

   9. Also, in a wider sense, the sound caused by the friction
      of the outgoing breath in the throat, mouth, etc., when
      the glottis is wide open; aspiration; the sound expressed
      by the letter h.

Breathe \Breathe\ (br[=e][th]), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Breathed};
   p. pr. & vb. n. {Breathing}.] [From {Breath}.]
   1. To respire; to inhale and exhale air; hence;, to live. ``I
      am in health, I breathe.'' --Shak.

            Breathes there a man with soul so dead? --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.

   2. To take breath; to rest from action.

            Well! breathe awhile, and then to it again! --Shak.

   3. To pass like breath; noiselessly or gently; to exhale; to
      emanate; to blow gently.

            The air breathes upon us here most sweetly. --Shak.

            There breathes a living fragrance from the shore.
                                                  --Byron.

Source : WordNet®

breathing
     adj : passing or able to pass air in and out of the lungs
           normally; sometimes used in combination; "the boy was
           disappointed to find only skeletons instead of living
           breathing dinosaurs"; "the heavy-breathing person on
           the telephone" [syn: {eupneic}, {eupnoeic}] [ant: {breathless}]

breathing
     n : the bodily process of inhalation and exhalation; the process
         of taking in oxygen from inhaled air and releasing carbon
         dioxide by exhalation [syn: {external respiration}, {respiration},
          {ventilation}]