v. & n.
v. 1 intr. breathe with an audible chesty whistling sound. 2 tr. (often foll. by out) utter in this way.
n. 1 a sound of wheezing. 2 colloq. a Brit. a clever scheme. b an actor's interpolated joke etc. c a catch-phrase. wheezer n. wheezingly adv. wheezy adj. (wheezier, wheeziest). wheezily adv. wheeziness n.
[ prob. f. ON hvsa to hiss ]