Overventilate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To breathe more rapidly or deeply than necessary, often causing dizziness or hyperventilation
2. To breathe in an excessive manner, taking in more air than the body requires for normal function
3. To inhale and exhale with abnormal frequency or depth, leading to an imbalance of carbon dioxide in the blood

Etymology: "Overventilate" is a plain formation: the prefix "over-", meaning excessively or too much, attached to "ventilate." That base comes from Latin "ventilare," meaning to fan or expose to air, built from "ventus," wind. So the word literally means to supply air or wind to something in excess. The interesting part is the gap between that physical sense and the modern one. "Ventilate" moved from fanning air through a room to airing out an argument or grievance, and "overventilate" carries that extension into the realm of talk: discussing or airing a matter so much that it loses its value. The prefix does the work of turning a literal act of moving air into a complaint about excess.

Synonyms: hyperventilate

Antonyms: hypoventilate