This verb means to breathe, blow, or simply to be alive. In Acts 9:1, Saul is described as "breathing threats and murder against the disciples." The participle suggests he was exhaling hostility—his very breath was filled with menace toward Christians. Classical usage includes breathing upon something, playing a wind instrument, or simply living. Here the metaphor is vivid: Saul's life was consumed with violent opposition to the church, every breath dedicated to persecution, until Christ stopped him on the road to Damascus.