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sweat

[swet]
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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.
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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 clip1(def 4).
  16. to cause (tobacco or cocoa) to ferment.
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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.
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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.
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Verb Phrases
  1. sweat out, 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.
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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.
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Origin of sweat

before 900; 1970–75 for def 6; (v.) Middle English sweten, Old English swǣtan to sweat, derivative of swāt (noun) (> obsolete English swote); (noun) Middle English, alteration of swote, influenced by the v.; cognate with Dutch zweet, German Schweiss, Old Norse sveiti, Sanskrit svedas; akin to Latin sūdor, Greek hidrṓs
Related formssweat·less, adjectivenon·sweat·ing, adjectiveun·sweat·ing, adjective

Synonyms

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
24. See perspiration.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

steam, perspiration, wilt, swelter, glow, toil, excretion, exudation, transudation, sudor, diaphoresis, chore, task, travail, work, slavery, labor, drudgery, moil, grind

Examples from the Web for sweat

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The sweat glistened on their bodies, but their eyes gleamed fanatically.

    The Leopard Woman

    Stewart Edward White

  • Great beads of sweat stood on his brow and he wiped them away with his sleeve.

  • Then I saw a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead, and I knew that he was beaten.

    Micah Clarke

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • It was terrible work, like earning a living with the sweat of the brow.

    Four Girls and a Compact

    Annie Hamilton Donnell

  • The sweat oozed from his shiny forehead as he backed cautiously away.

    Slaves of Mercury

    Nat Schachner

British Dictionary definitions for sweat

sweat

noun
  1. the secretion from the sweat glands, esp when profuse and visible, as during strenuous activity, from excessive heat, etc; commonly also called perspirationRelated adjectives: sudatory, sudorific
  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 labourmowing lawns is a real sweat!
  7. mainly US an exercise gallop given to a horse, esp on the day of a race
  8. slang, mainly British a soldier, esp one who is old and experienced
  9. no sweat! (interjection) slang an expression suggesting that something can be done without problems or difficulty
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verb sweats, sweating, sweat or sweated
  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 dropletsa sweating cheese; the maple sweats sap
  4. (intr) to collect and condense moisture on an outer surfacea 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. (tr) informal to employ at very low wages and under bad conditions
  15. (tr) informal to extort, esp by tortureto sweat information out of a captive
  16. (intr) informal to suffer punishmentyou'll sweat for this!
  17. sweat blood informal
    1. to work very hard
    2. to be filled with anxiety or impatience
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See also sweat off, sweat out, hidrosis
Derived Formssweatless, adjective

Word Origin

Old English swætan to sweat, from swāt sweat; related to Old Saxon swēt, Old Norse sveiti, Old High German sweiz, Latin sūdor, Sanskrit svedas
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sweat

v.

Old English swætan "perspire, work hard," from the source of sweat (n.). Meaning "to be worried, vexed" is recorded from c.1400. Related: Sweated; sweating. Colloquial no sweat "no problem" attested from 1963.

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n.

Old English swat "sweat," which became Middle English swote, but altered under the influence of the verb, from Proto-Germanic *swaita (cf. Old Saxon, Old Frisian swet, Old Norse sveiti, Danish sved "sweat," Swedish svett, Middle Dutch sweet, Dutch zweet, Old High German sweiz, German Schweiß), from PIE *sweid-/*swoid- (cf. Sanskrit svedah "sweat," Avestan xvaeda- "sweat," Greek hidros "sweat, perspiration," Latin sudor, Lettish swiedri, Welsh chwys "sweat"). Sweat equity is from 1968.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
sweat in Medicine

sweat

(swĕt)
v.
  1. To excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin; perspire.
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n.
  1. The colorless saline moisture excreted by the sweat glands; perspiration.
  2. The process of sweating.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
sweat in Science

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.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Idioms and Phrases with sweat

sweat

In addition to the idioms beginning with sweat

  • sweat blood
  • sweat bullets
  • sweat of one's brow
  • sweat out

also see:

  • by the sweat of one's brow
  • in a cold sweat
  • no problem (sweat)
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.