From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishintake of breathintake of breathBREATHEa sudden act of breathing in, especially when you are shocked → intake
Examples from the Corpus
intake of breath• Where an intake of breath is not necessarily followed by an exhalation.• All of a sudden, she realised there had been a collective intake of breath and that everyone around her was staring at the monitors.• When he heard the deep intake of breath, Joe related.• Truculently she pushed her hands through the glossy waves and then froze, suddenly aware of Lucenzo's prolonged intake of breath.• There was a sharp intake of breath behind him, and there she stood in the doorway looking at him.• There was a sharp intake of breath.• Crystal iced spires in twinkling reflection, Sharp intake of breath at such perfection.• I force her skinny little arms into the position I need and ignore the sharp intake of breath. 