perspire
- to secrete a salty, watery fluid from the sweat glands of the skin, especially when very warm as a result of strenuous exertion; sweat.
- to emit through pores; exude.
Origin of perspire
Examples from the Web for perspired
Historical Examples of perspired
Near her stood a long-haired young man who perspired incessantly.
MelomaniacsJames Huneker
He perspired in reality now, and let his knees drop out of his arms.
The Twins of Suffering CreekRidgwell Cullum
In the evening I perspired so profusely that my bed had to be changed.
The Memoires of Casanova, CompleteJacques Casanova de Seingalt
The horses panted and perspired, while horses and lads were covered with dust.
Frank Merriwell's BraveryBurt L. Standish
For a week, she toiled and perspired and suffered and was strong.
Teddy: Her BookAnna Chapin Ray
perspire
- to secrete or exude (perspiration) through the pores of the skin
Word Origin for perspire
Word Origin and History for perspired
perspire
1640s, "to evaporate through the pores," a back-formation from perspiration and in part from Latin perspirare "to breathe, to blow constantly" (see perspiration). Meaning "to sweat" is a polite usage attested from 1725. Medical men tried to maintain a distinction between "sensible" (sweat) and "insensible" perspiration:
[I]t is sufficient for common use to observe, that perspiration is that insensible discharge of vapour from the whole surface of the body and the lungs which is constantly going on in a healthy state; that it is always natural and always salutary; that sweat, on the contrary, is an evacuation, which never appears without some uncommon effort, or some disease to the system, that it weakens and relaxes, and is so far from coinciding with perspiration, that it obstructs and checks it. [Charles White, "A Treatise on the Management of Pregnant and Lying-in Women," London, 1791]
Related: Perspired; perspiring.
perspire
(pər-spīr′)- To excrete perspiration through the pores of the skin.