Panting Cools an Animal That Cannot Sweat
To pant is to breathe quickly and shallowly. For many mammals it is the only cooling system.
To pant is to breathe with short quick breaths, usually after exertion. For dogs it is not simply breathlessness but the main cooling mechanism: they have almost no sweat glands in the skin, so they move air rapidly over the wet surfaces of the tongue and airway, and the evaporation carries heat away. A panting dog may take over 300 breaths a minute while barely using more energy than at rest. The verb also means to long for something, as in *panting for freedom*.
- To breathe quickly. *Panting for breath.*
- To long for. *Panting for news.*
- A short breath. *In pants and gasps.*
- To throb. *A panting heart.*
- Old French — *pantaisier*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | pant | Panting. |
| Past | panted | Panted. |
| Noun | pant | A pant. |
| Related | gasp | To gasp. |
| Old French | pantaisier | To gasp. |
- The dog panted in the heat.Cooling.
- He arrived panting.Exertion.
- Panting for news.Longing.
How animals shed heat
- Humans and horses sweat over most of the body
- Dogs and cats pant and sweat only through the paws
- Elephants use their ears as radiators
- Birds flutter the throat, called gular fluttering
- Kangaroos lick their forearms to wet the skin
Old French *pantaisier*, to gasp, probably from Late Latin *phantasiare*, to have visions or gasp in a nightmare.
Why do dogs pant?
Chiefly to cool down. They cannot sweat through the skin, so they evaporate water from the tongue and airways.
Does pant mean anything besides breathing?
Yes. It also means to long for something intensely, as in panting for freedom.