2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Respiration  \Res`pi*ra"tion\  (r?s`p?*r?"sh?n),  n.  [L. 
  respiratio:  cf  F.  respiration.  See  {Respire}.] 
  1.  The  act  of  respiring  or  breathing  again  or  catching  one's 
  breath. 
 
  2.  Relief  from  toil  or  suffering:  rest.  [Obs.] 
 
  Till  the  day  Appear  of  respiration  to  the  just  And 
  vengeance  to  the  wicked.  --Milton. 
 
  3.  Interval;  intermission.  [Obs.]  --Bp.  Hall. 
 
  4.  (Physiol.)  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  respiration 
  n  :  the  process  of  taking  in  oxygen  from  the  air  and  releasing 
  carbon  dioxide  [syn:  {breathing}] 

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