inhaler

Everyday

A small device you put in your mouth and press to breathe a medicine into your lungs, used mostly for asthma. tree →

In the lessons

In health and safety lessons, children with asthma use an inhaler, often with a spacer; a blue reliever inhaler opens the airways during an attack, and a preventer inhaler is used every day. Schools keep inhalers handy, and you should tell an adult at once if a friend has trouble breathing. Phrases: «use your inhaler», «blue inhaler», «reliever inhaler».

Examples

• Jamie takes his inhaler on every school trip. tree →
• When she started wheezing, she used her blue inhaler. tree →
• Shake the inhaler and breathe in slowly. tree →
• Our teacher keeps spare inhalers in the office. tree →
• A spacer helps the medicine from the inhaler reach the lungs. tree →
• He uses a brown inhaler every morning to prevent attacks. tree →
• If an inhaler doesn't help, call for help straight away. tree →
• Never use someone else's inhaler. tree →

Note

Countable; with «an»: «an inhaler». Verb «inhale» (breathe in); opposite «exhale» (breathe out). An inhaler is a medicine, not a toy, and belongs only to the person it was given to.