breathing spell

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breathing spell

An opportunity to prepare for or have a respite from a difficult situation.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Noun

breathing spell - a short respite

breather, breathing place, breathing space, breathing time, breath

rest period, rest, respite, relief - a pause for relaxation; "people actually accomplish more when they take time for short rests"

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I had just disarmed a huge fellow who had given me a desperate struggle, and for a moment the blacks stood back for a breathing spell.

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Thus she might have got a breathing spell, but Red-Eye was fiendish.

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Once, during the morning, while Anson took a breathing spell after bringing in another hundred-pound pack, Tarwater delicately hinted his impression.

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There were breathing spells when I had a chance to converse with the red men beside whom I fought, and once the jeddak, Kulan Tith himself, laid his hand upon my shoulder and asked my name.

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"I see no contradiction to the gifts of any man in passing his breathing spells in useful reflections," the scout replied.

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Either result would defeat the automatic stay's purpose of giving the debtor a breathing spell from pending proceedings against it.

Bankruptcy Court Applies Automatic Stay to Continuation of Removed State Court Action Against Debtor

The automatic stay, which gives debtors a breathing spell from creditors, is one of the most "fundamental debtor protections" in bankruptcy.