(あえ)

あえぐ
verb (godan, intransitive)
to gasp; to pant; to struggle
自動詞 intransitiveactionexistence
Conjugation
AffirmativeNegative
Present(あえ)(あえ)がない
Present polite(あえ)ぎます(あえ)ぎません
Past(あえ)いだ(あえ)がなかった
Past polite(あえ)ぎました(あえ)ぎませんでした
て form(あえ)いで(あえ)がなくて
ている present(あえ)いでいる(あえ)いでいない
ている polite(あえ)いでいます(あえ)いでいません
ている past(あえ)いでいた(あえ)いでいなかった
ている past polite(あえ)いでいました(あえ)いでいませんでした
Conditional ば(あえ)げば(あえ)がなければ
Conditional たら(あえ)いだら(あえ)がなかったら
Volitional(あえ)ごう
Volitional polite(あえ)ぎましょう
Potential(あえ)げる(あえ)げない
Passive(あえ)がれる(あえ)がれない
Causative(あえ)がせる(あえ)がせない
Imperative(あえ)(あえ)ぐな
1. to gasp; to pant; to breathe hard
To breathe with difficulty, as from physical exertion, pain, or illness.
I'm panting from climbing the hill.
In the intense heat, the athletes kept running while gasping for breath.
高熱(こうねつ)(くる)しそう(あえ)いでいた
She was gasping in distress from a high fever.
2. to struggle; to suffer under hardship
To be in a state of difficulty or distress, struggling under the weight of problems such as poverty, debt, or oppression. A figurative extension of the physical gasping sense.
The number of companies struggling under the recession is increasing.
I want to escape a life of struggling under debt.
The voices of medical workplaces struggling with staff shortages are not being heard.

Usage

(あえ)ぐ is a godan verb. In sense 2, the pattern ~(あえ)ぐ (to struggle under ~) is very common in news and formal writing.

Common collocations

Similar words

はあはあする is an onomatopoeic expression for panting, more casual and physical. 息切(いきぎ)する means "to become out of breath." (くる)しむ means "to suffer" and is broader in meaning than the figurative sense of (あえ)ぐ.