人呼吸時被擠出來的哨音
這一支就是核心畫面本身：氣管變窄，空氣擠過去，發出細細的哨音。動詞講這件事在發生，名詞講那個聲音。
verb · B2
To breathe with difficulty, so that the air makes a thin whistling or rattling noise in your throat and chest.
喘鳴；喘著氣發出咻咻聲
核心畫面
Picture air being pushed through a tube that has become too narrow. It cannot move freely, so instead of a quiet breath you get a thin, high, whistling squeak that people can hear from across the room. That squeezed whistle is what wheeze names. Everything that follows keeps the squeeze: the noise itself gets the same name, machines that push air and are struggling are said to do it too, and someone laughing so hard that their breath comes out in little squeaks is wheezing as well.
可以想成空氣被硬擠過一條變窄的管子。它過不去，所以出來的不是安靜的呼吸，而是又細又高的哨音，隔著房間都聽得到。whe…更多收起
可以想成空氣被硬擠過一條變窄的管子。它過不去，所以出來的不是安靜的呼吸，而是又細又高的哨音，隔著房間都聽得到。wheeze 命名的就是這個「被擠出來的聲音」。後面的用法都留著這個擠的感覺：聲音本身用同一個字，靠風運作又很吃力的老機器也可以這樣講，笑到吸不到氣、只剩細細抽氣聲的人，同樣在 wheeze。From the word’s history
Wiktionary traces wheeze to Middle English whesen, perhaps from Old Norse hvæsa 'to hiss', and ultimately to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to pant'. Both of those older meanings are about the noise breath makes rather than about breathing itself, which is still where the modern word puts its weight.
根據 Wiktionary，wheeze 來自中古英文 whesen，可能再接到古北歐語 hvæsa「發出嘶嘶聲」，更早的印歐語詞根意思是「喘」。這兩個更早的意思，重點都放在呼吸「發出的聲音」，而不是呼吸這個動作本身。今天的 wheeze 也還是這樣：它講的是聲音。
Wiktionary etymology text supplied in this evidence packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:673166834, entry 'wheeze' verb)
Four branches
機器也會喘
同一個擠過窄縫的聲音，換到會推空氣的機器上。用了這個字，等於順便說它老了、很吃力，所以是一種帶畫面的選字，不是中性的描述。
verb · C1
Of a machine, engine or musical instrument: to make a thin, rough whistling noise like a person whose breathing is difficult.
（機器）發出咻咻的費力聲
笑到喘不過氣
還是同一個畫面，只是這次讓你吸不到氣的不是病，是笑。正因為外在的聲音一模一樣，英文才能把這個字拿來用。
verb · C1
To laugh so hard that you can hardly breathe. Often used, especially online, to say that something is extremely funny.
笑到喘不過氣
拿出來用的一招：妙計與老笑話
這一支跟前面的呼吸畫面接不太上。我們手上的資料沒有說明它是怎麼長出來的，所以先把它當成另外一條用法記住，不硬掰一個故事。兩個意思都帶地區標記，遇到時先看是英式還是美式。
noun · C1
A clever and amusing plan or trick, often one that gets round a rule or saves money. British English, and it now sounds old-fashioned.
妙計；小花招