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sigh

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heave a sigh of relief

To experience an intense feeling of happiness or relief because something particularly stressful, unpleasant, or undesirable has been avoided or completed. Everyone in class heaved a sigh of relief after that horrible midterm exam was over. Investors in Europe are heaving a big sigh of relief now that a Greek exit from the Euro has been avoided.

See also: heave, of, relief, sigh

sigh of relief

A feeling or display of relief that something particularly stressful, unpleasant, or undesirable has been avoided or completed. Everyone in class heaved a sigh of relief after that horrible midterm exam was over. Investors in Europe had a big sigh of relief now that a Greek exit from the Euro has been avoided.

See also: of, relief, sigh

breathe a sigh of relief

 

1. Lit. to sigh in a way that signals one's relief that something has come to an end. At the end of the contest, we all breathed a sigh of relief.

2. Fig. to express relief that something has ended. With the contract finally signed, we breathed a sigh of relief as we drank a toast in celebration.

See also: breathe, of, relief, sigh

sigh about something

to release a deep breath, indicating anxiety, distress, or relief about something. What are you sighing about? she sighed about her illness and then shifted her thoughts to something else.

See also: sigh

sigh for someone

to release a deep breath, indicating anxiety about one's emotional attachment for someone. Dave spent a lot of his time sighing for Laura, on whom he had a crush. Laura has been sighing for some as-yet-unnamed young man.

See also: sigh

breathe a sigh of relief

to feel comfortable again after worrying about something Coastal residents breathed a sigh of relief when the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm. Her children breathed a quiet sigh of relief when she made arrangements to get help.

See also: breathe, of, relief, sigh