Birthday Wish: Meaning, Examples & Traditions

Meaning 1：birthday wish (birthday wish)

birthday wish 🔊

ˈbɜːrθdeɪ wɪʃ

A secret hope or desire that someone makes in their mind, often while blowing out candles on a birthday cake.

birthday wish 🔊

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ˈbɜːrθdeɪ wɪʃ

A personal hope or desire that a person silently forms in their mind, typically on their birthday and often associated with blowing out birthday candles.

📁 Category：Culture & History 🔖 Level：Beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

Compound of 'birthday' and 'wish', referring to a desire made on one's birthday.

💡 Mnemonic

Think of a birthday cake with candles; before blowing them out, you silently make a wish.

📖 Example

Before blowing out the candles, she closed her eyes and made her birthday wish. 🔊 Before blowing out the candles, she closed her eyes and made her birthday wish.

🔗 Collocations

make a birthday wish – to silently express a personal desire on one's birthday

grant a birthday wish – to fulfill or make true someone's birthday desire

whisper a birthday wish – to say a birthday desire quietly or secretly

🔄 Synonyms

birthday desire (n.) – a strong wish expressed or held on a birthday

birthday hope (n.) – a feeling of expectation or desire for something on one's birthday

birthday dream (n.) – an aspiration or hope associated with one's birthday

📖 Cultural Story

The tradition of making a birthday wish while blowing out candles dates back to ancient Greece, where round cakes were offered to Artemis. Modern custom spread from 18th-century Germany, where birthday candles were believed to carry wishes to the gods.