give (one) a chance to catch (one's) breath
1. To allow one to have a brief amount of time to try to resume breathing normally, as after some prolonged aerobic exercise. Can we stop for a couple minutes? I can't run as fast as you guys—give me a chance to catch my breath! Make sure you give yourself a chance to catch your breath during the marathon. A: "That exercise class was way too fast-paced!" B: "I know, the teacher never gave us a chance to catch our breath at any point!"
2. To allow one to have a brief amount of time in which one is at rest, either physically or mentally, in order to regain one's composure, become more organized, or begin thinking clearly again. You can't expect your team to dive right into the next project and not get a little burnt out. You've got to give them a chance to catch their breath. Thankfully the client needs some extra time between shipments. That should give us a chance to catch our breath before we start putting together their next order. It was dumb of me to go straight from traveling abroad into the fall semester of school. That schedule didn't give me a chance to catch my breath first.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.