An exclamation expressing relief, exhaustion, or that a close call was narrowly avoided.
An onomatopoeia (a word that imitates a sound), representing the sound of exhaling with relief or exhaustion. Its exact origin is unclear, but it appears in English by the 18th century and became standardized as a representation of a relieved sigh.
Phew' is basically the sound your body makes when you're relieved—so it's one of those perfect onomatopoeia where the word literally sounds like what it describes, and people across different languages have similar sounds for relief!
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