save one's breath
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to stop talking because what you say will have no effect
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
ngừng nói vì điều bạn nói sẽ không có hiệu quả
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: preserve air for breathing
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Don't try to convince him, save your breath.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “save one's breath” mean?
to stop talking because what you say will have no effect Literally: preserve air for breathing
Is “save one's breath” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.