sweat

[ swet ]

verb (used without object)

, sweat or sweat·ed, sweat·ing.

1. to perspire, especially freely or profusely.
2. to exude moisture, as green plants piled in a heap or cheese.
3. to gather moisture from the surrounding air by condensation.
4. (of moisture or liquid) to ooze or be exuded.
5. Informal. to work hard.
6. Informal. to experience distress, as from anxiety.
7. (of tobacco) to ferment.

verb (used with object)

, sweat or sweat·ed, sweat·ing.

1. to excrete (perspiration, moisture, etc.) through the pores of the skin.
2. to exude in drops or small particles:

   The drying figs sweat tiny drops of moisture.

3. to send forth or get rid of with or like perspiration (often followed by out or off ).
4. to wet or stain with perspiration.
5. to cause (a person, a horse, etc.) to perspire.
6. to cause to exude moisture, especially as a step in an industrial drying process:

   to sweat wood.

7. to earn, produce, or obtain (a result, promotion, compliment, etc.) by hard work.
8. to cause to lose (weight) as by perspiring or hard work:

   The hard week's work sweated five pounds off him.

9. to cause, force, or bring pressure on (a person, an animal, etc.) to work hard.
10. to employ (workers) at low wages, for long hours, or under other unfavorable conditions.
11. to labor with meticulous care over:

    The manufacturer of this beautiful car has really sweated the details.

12. Slang.
    1. to obtain or extort (money) from someone.
    2. to extort money from; fleece.
13. Slang. to subject to severe questioning; give the third degree to.
14. Metallurgy.
    1. to heat (an alloy) in order to remove a constituent melting at a lower temperature than the alloy as a whole.
    2. to heat (solder or the like) to melting.
    3. to join (metal objects) by heating and pressing together, usually with solder.
15. to remove bits of metal from (gold coins) by shaking them against one another, as in a bag. Compare clip ¹( def 4 ).
16. to cause (tobacco or cocoa) to ferment.

noun

1. the process of sweating or perspiring.
2. that which is secreted from sweat glands; perspiration.
3. a state or a period of sweating.
4. hard work.
5. Informal. a state of anxiety or impatience.
6. a process of inducing sweating or perspiration, or of being sweated, as in medical treatment.
7. moisture exuded from something or gathered on a surface.
8. an exuding of moisture, as by a substance.
9. an inducing of such exudation, as in some industrial process.
10. a run given to a horse for exercise, as before a race.
11. sweats, Informal. sweatpants, sweatshirts, sweat suits, or the like.

adjective

1. Informal.
   1. (of clothes) made to be worn for exercise, sports, or other physical activity.
   2. made of the absorbent fabric used for such clothes:

      sweat dresses.

   3. of, for, or associated with such clothes:

      the sweat look in sportswear.

verb phrase

1. Informal.
   1. to await anxiously the outcome of; endure apprehensively:

      The accused sweated out the jury's deliberation.

   2. to work arduously at or toward:

      The director sweated out a camera angle with the cinematographer.

sweat

/ swɛt /

noun

1. the secretion from the sweat glands, esp when profuse and visible, as during strenuous activity, from excessive heat, etc; commonly also called perspiration sudatorysudorific
2. the act or process of secreting this fluid
3. the act of inducing the exudation of moisture
4. drops of moisture given forth or gathered on the surface of something
5. informal.
   a state or condition of worry or eagerness (esp in the phrase in a sweat )
6. slang.
   drudgery or hard labour

   mowing lawns is a real sweat!

7. an exercise gallop given to a horse, esp on the day of a race
8. slang.
   a soldier, esp one who is old and experienced
9. no sweat! slang.
   no sweat! interjection an expression suggesting that something can be done without problems or difficulty

verb

1. to secrete (sweat) through the pores of the skin, esp profusely
2. tr to make wet or stain with sweat
3. to give forth or cause to give forth (moisture) in droplets

   the maple sweats sap

   a sweating cheese

4. intr to collect and condense moisture on an outer surface

   a glass of beer sweating in the sun

5. intr (of a liquid) to pass through a porous surface in droplets
6. (of tobacco leaves, cut and dried hay, etc) to exude moisture and, sometimes, begin to ferment or to cause (tobacco leaves, etc) to exude moisture
7. tr to heat (food, esp vegetables) slowly in butter in a tightly closed saucepan
8. tr to join (pieces of metal) by pressing together and heating
9. tr to heat (solder) until it melts
10. tr to heat (a partially fused metal) to extract an easily fusible constituent
11. to shake together (coins, esp gold coins) so as to remove particles for illegal use
12. informal.
    to suffer anxiety, impatience, or distress
13. informal.
    to overwork or be overworked
14. informal.
    tr to employ at very low wages and under bad conditions
15. informal.
    tr to extort, esp by torture

    to sweat information out of a captive

16. informal.
    intr to suffer punishment

    you'll sweat for this!

17. sweat blood informal.
    sweat blood
    1. to work very hard
    2. to be filled with anxiety or impatience

sweat

/ swĕt /

1. The salty liquid given off by sweat glands in the skin of mammals. As sweat evaporates, the skin cools, causing a reduction in body heat.

Derived Forms

• ˈsweatless, adjective

Other Words From

• sweatless adjective
• non·sweating adjective
• un·sweating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sweat¹

First recorded before 900; 1970–75 sweat fordef 6; (verb) Middle English sweten, Old English swǣtan “to sweat,” derivative of swāt (noun); (noun) Middle English swet, sweet, influenced by the verb, cognate with Dutch zweet, German Schweiss, Old Norse sveiti; akin to Sanskrit svéda-, Latin sūdor, Greek hidrṓs

Word History and Origins

Origin of sweat¹

Old English swætan to sweat, from swāt sweat; related to Old Saxon swēt, Old Norse sveiti, Old High German sweiz, Latin sūdor, Sanskrit svedas

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. no sweat, Informal. with no difficulty or problem.
2. sweat blood, Informal.
   1. to be under a strain; work strenuously.
   2. to wait anxiously; worry:

      He was sweating blood while his friend was being questioned by the police.

3. sweat bullets, Informal.
   1. to sweat profusely.
   2. to be apprehensive; worry.
4. sweat it, Informal.
   1. to wait anxiously; endure the best way one can:

      There was no news of survivors, so all we could do was sweat it.

   2. to worry; be apprehensive:

      You'll do OK, so don't sweat it.

More idioms and phrases containing sweat

• by the sweat of one's brow
• in a cold sweat
• no problem (sweat)

Synonym Study

See perspiration.

Example Sentences

Gyms operate in close quarters and in environments where you have heavy breathing, sweat and shared equipment — not the mix you want during a pandemic.

From Ozy

That’s why getting them to sniff sweat from cotton swabs is probably better, he says.

From Science News For Students

Mateescu and her team have examined skin biopsies and found that relatively large sweat glands allow Brahman to better regulate their internal body temperature.

From Singularity Hub 

Some devices may one day be powered by electric currents made from your sweat.

From Science News For Students

Using sweat, he points out, lets people harness energy that usually goes to waste.

From Science News For Students

For nearly her entire life Beyoncé has been giving us her blood, sweat, and tears in her career.

From The Daily Beast

And how much do you need to sweat to stave off the disease that kills 500,000 people every year?

From The Daily Beast

He wipes beads of sweat from his brow, and extends his hand out towards the crowd.

From The Daily Beast

Sweat poured from underneath his helmet and down the thin points of his sandy blond hair.

From The Daily Beast

I tried to relax too, but I felt my stomach tighten and I began to sweat.

From The Daily Beast

A mist came before his eyes, the cold sweat stood upon his ashy face, his limbs failed him, and he sunk upon his knees.

From Project Gutenberg

These cigars rarely "char" in burning; certainly not, if made of good quality of tobacco and thoroughly sweat.

From Project Gutenberg

The sweat of death was already on his brow as he reeled sideways, plunging blindly across the uneven tufts of grass.

From Project Gutenberg

After harvesting, the plants cure rapidly and on account of their small size rarely sweat.

From Project Gutenberg

His next line—'To grunt and sweat under a weary life'—resembles ll.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• perspiration
• steam