breathing space

• breathing-space

breathing space (countable and uncountable, plural breathing spaces)

1. Sufficient space or a span of time in which to recover one's breath.

   Synonyms: breathing room, breathing spell, breathing while

   • 1842, Thomas Babbington Macaulay, Horatius, stanza 45:

     He reeled, and on Herminius
     He leaned one breathing-space;
     Then, like a wild cat mad with wounds,
     Sprang right at Astur's face.

2. A rest, pause, or respite.
3. Enough distance so that one can feel unfettered.

   Don't fret, in our division you get a lot of breathing space.

   • 1951 January, “The Inner Circle and its Rolling Stock”, in Railway Magazine, page 58:

     By this time the difference between first and third class accommodation had become nominal, and was measured in "breathing space" during peak hours rather than in quality.

   • 2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph‎:

     Martin Kelly then finished with power to provide some breathing space before Craig Dawson’s scored his fourth goal in five England Under-21 appearances with a looping header.